"CHATEAU REBELS" Part Two - Installation Magazine

In the days before the opening of “CHATEAU REBELS” at 4AM Gallery in the Pacific Design Center, Gregory Siff and Louis Cannizzarro AKA LouisXXX sit on bended knees in front of the gallery. Gregory opens a bag of markers of various thickness and color, but mainly pink and black and lines them up against the glass wall. In keeping with the handwritten style of the works featured in “CHATEAU REBELS,” it only seems appropriate that the artists would write directly on the gallery exterior. The two take turns writing out the letters, LouisXXX with his left hand and Gregory with his right. First “CHATEAU,” then “REBELS” with a backwards “s” fills the once vacant pane. Watching the two at work you can’t help but feel an infectious creative synergy. While the writing on the glass may be temporary, it is evidence of a collaboration three years in the making. “CHATEAU REBELS” is a collection of works on stationary from destinations traveled and resulted in a book titled Hotel Studio.

Gallery-View-5 — From the outside looking in, “CHATEAU REBELS.” Photograph by Jared Clatworthy.

Greg-and-Louis-View-1 — LouisXXX and Gregory Siff. Photograph by Jared Clatworthy.

A view of works paper, documenting the travels of Gregory Siff x LouisXXX. Photograph by Jared Clatworthy.

Hotel stationary is an artifact of time and space. It’s not a format that we immediately consider when arriving at a hotel in the same way that Hunter S. Thompson would roll stationary into his typewriter while on the road for Rolling Stone Magazine. Gregory and LouisXXX see stationary as a tool readily available to document a creative journey. “CHATEAU REBELS” celebrates stationary from three distinctive destinations- The Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, The Coast Hotel in Paris and Recckios Bowling Alley in Buffalo, New York. The artists used stationary of various sizes, envelopes, and receipts to draw and inscribe poetic verse as a means to document their travels and capture conversations which might have otherwise been forgotten.

The “hotel” becomes a metaphor for the space that exists beyond the artist’s formal studio. “The hotel is the ever-present, traveling studio” Gregory explains. “As long as you have a marker or a story you can create in all these environments.” The book was intentionally designed as a travel companion and a source for ongoing inspiration. Art is wherever you find yourself. Just as Hemingway frequented the La Closerie des Lilas in Paris, LouisXXX and Gregory Siff prove that creativity is not confined by destination and can be realized on any material.

Gregory Siff x Louisxxx, "CHATEAU REBELS," crayon and marker on paper, 2012-2015," courtesy of the artists and 4AM Gallery. — Gregory Siff x LouisXXX, “CHATEAU REBELS,” crayon and marker on paper, 2012-2015,” courtesy of the artists and 4AM Gallery.

Gregory-View-3 — Gregory Siff holds a deck of polaroids that capture the “Success” Marc Jacobs leather jacket. Photograph by Jared Clatworthy.

LouisXXX-View-2 — LouisXXX. Photograph by Jared Clatworthy.

Gallery-View-3 — Poetry on skateboard decks. Photograph by Jared Clatworthy.

Greg-and-Louis-View-4 — Two rebels. Photograph by Jared Clatworthy.

All artworks images courtesy of the artists and 4AM Gallery.