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Incontinent was created for a retrospective of the music of Frank Tovey/Fad Gadget at Envoy Enterprises in New York City.
“Founder of the British group Fad Gadget, Frank Tovey died in 2002. A contemporary of Depeche Mode and Human League, Tovey was known for his electronic textures, brooding lyrics, and wildly theatrical performances. He sang about the difficulties of living in the modern world and his songs "spoke for and against the little man, the ubiquitous civilian bewildered by the speed of events threatening to sweep him up or leave him behind," wrote Biba Kopf. Frank Tovey released the ghostly single "Back to Nature" and a succession of songs with catchy, bizarre choruses (e.g., "Shave It, Shave It, Shave It!")… But even the most memorable artists get swept under the tide of history. Jimi Dams, founder of Envoy Enterprises, invited 27 artists to pay tribute to Tovey's work."
(The Huffington Post)
“The group show at Envoy Enterprise is the first in a three-part series, a collaboration between Envoy Enterprises, NP Contemporary Art and Mute Records. Xeno & Oaklander and Ikeyard perform at Dixon Place, and Anthology Film Archives will host a screening of a documentary by Tovey’s daughter Morgan as well as a film by Savage Grace director Tom Kalin. What Tovey stood for, according to Jimi Dams of Envoy Enterprises, was a particular refusal to bend to corporate will or compromise in order to make himself or his music more appealing to mainstream audiences. His music-combined synthesizers with sounds of found objects like drills and electric razors. “Frank Tovey was special because he made electronic music in the beginning…” said Mr. Dams, who explained that Tovey would always do something that would make a performance completely commercially unacceptable. “He would be naked and covered in flowers and tar,” he said. “He was big in the underworld. But not in the mainstream.” And when electronic music became really big, Tovey, ever in contempt of trends, just dropped it all and picked up a guitar and sang folk songs.” (Gallerist NY)