Ernst Benkert participated in the breakthrough exhibition of “OpArt” at MoMA in 1965, “The Retrospective Eye.” Despite, or perhaps because of, his sudden notoriety, Benkert moved away from the big time art world. Inheriting Eva Hesse’s studio, Benkert’s exploration of the grid became an obsession he suffered and exulted in for years before breaking free just as he was losing his sight. Benkert’s illustrations of crazed, neurotic and hilarious characters began as doodles he did while talking on the phone. Part Otto Dix and part “Tijuana Bibles”, Fone Art eventually pointed a way out of the confines of the purely perceptual. His stackhead series represent a hard-won synthesis of abstract rhythms and delightful misanthropy. The New York Times recently reviewed his work as presented by D. Wigmore Gallery: “alarming, hallucinatory.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/arts/design/11galleries-003.html)
features favorites like the underground laugh riot “Deep Fat Fried Grinder”, “Britney Buddha” (his collaboration with Underground Britney which documented the defacement of Ms. Spears’ posters in the New York subways) and the haunting “Body Count” mashed-up with new work including “Tiger Woods, Serial Killer,” micro-documentaries on his father’s last days and his sister’s ill-remembered lover, along with 99’s challenging expansion of rev.99’s “Everything Changed After 7-11.” A pastiche of styles, sounds, moods and ideas, Attention Deficit Gift nevertheless delivers a coherent, at times hilarious, and deeply felt sense of everyday American schizophrenia.
99 Hooker:
An active member of the ImprovCore and experimental art scenes of the Bay Area in the 90s, 99 Hooker’s “ferocious” saxophone is featured in ths program with legendary jazz butchers “Fracture” and Bible Launcher – the infamous Tzadik release even John Zorn had to pull from the shelves. Other Bay Area artists featured in the program include Thollem McDonas, LX Rudis (label mate on Ernesto Diaz-Infante’s SF PAX Recordings), and Oakland’s late great The Molecules.
Since moving to New York, 99 Hooker founded the multi-media performance collective rev.99 (2001) and has had his work shown/performed at the Hirshhorn Museum, Anthology Film Archives, Museum of Art & Design, MoMA, Walter Reade, Bowery Ballroom. Performances in Europe include Musique Action (Nancy, FR) and Netmage (Bologna). He has produced with a wide variety of artists including Martha Colburn, Abraham Incorporated, DJ Spooky, the Yes Men, Benton-C Bainbridge, Donald O’Finn, Glenn Spearman, Borbetomagus, Jack Wright, The Dramatics, Ron Anderson and many others.
