ENVOY ENTERPRISES, NP CONTEMPORARY ART, AND MUTE PAY TRIBUTE TO FRANK TOVEY & FAD GADGET WITH A GROUP EXHIBITION, LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCES, AND FILM SCREENING

March 1 – EXHIBITION Opening Reception – envoy enterprises (131 Chrystie Street) March 3 – LIVE PERFORMANCES – Dixon Place (161 Chrystie Street) March 10 – SCREENING, Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey – Anthology Film Archives (32 2nd Ave)

envoy enterprises, in collaboration with NP Contemporary Art Center and Mute Records, is pleased to present FG.Ft, a three-part project series in homage to Frank Tovey – founder of the 1970s/1980s British electronic group Fad Gadget, marking the 10 year anniversary of the pioneer’s death. Summoning a diverse group of artists and musicians who have been both directly and indirectly influenced by Tovey, the series will take place from March 1st through to April 8th, 2012 featuring a group exhibition, live music performances, and a film screening. All events are free and open to the public.

FG.Ft was inspired in 2010 by the film Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey, a documentary produced by the Frank Tovey Estate and Mute, and directed by Morgan Tovey Frost. The documentary incited the possibility of paying tribute to a pioneer of the underground and post-punk music scenes who incorporated innovative electronic textures, Kafka-esque lyrics, and elaborately visceral performances. Known to perform tarred and feathered while hitting drum pads with his head, Tovey’s most influential tracks include “Ricky’s Hand”, “Collapsing New People” and “Life On The Line”. The exhibitions taking place this March mark the 10 year anniversary of Frank Tovey’s passing and commemorates his work and influence as an artist.

March 1 thru April 8 – Group exhibition on view at envoy enterprises which will feature works by 27 artists. Some will be new works inspired by Frank Tovey and specifically made for FG.Ft. Full artist list below. The opening reception is on Thursday, March 1, 6-8pm.

March 3 at 10:30pm – Live performances by Xeno & Oaklander and Ike Yard at Dixon Place as part of the music program.

March 10 at 8:00pm – Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey, directed by Morgan Tovey, will make its US premiere at Anthology Film Archives along with short films from artists in the exhibition.

Show catalog and flyer will be available for purchase along with CD released by Mute Records of rare archived material from Fad Gadget. To purchase please contact [email protected]

All events are free and open to the public on a first come, first serve basis.

Fad Gadget was Mute Record’s first signing in 1979, and an enormous influence on a whole host of electronic artists. Featuring the ground-breaking debut single, ‘Back To Nature’ (originally released in October 1979) plus the classic single ‘Ricky’s Hand’, and live favourite ‘Lady Shave’. Mute Records will release An Introduction To… Fad Gadget Spring 2012.

Participating Artist Roster: FG.Ft Opening March 1, 2012, 6-8pm: envoy enterprises ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Olaf Breuning Nick Cash Nathan Cash Davidson Thomas Dozol Fischerspooner David Flinn Erik Hanson Kelsey Henderson Tom Kalin Erika Keck Brian Kenny Robert Knoke Terence Koh Lovett/Codagnone Slava Mogutin Micki Pellerano Edwin Pouncey Alex Rose Desi Santiago Matthew Sims Stephanie Snider Gail Stoicheff Una Szeemann Frank Tovey Conrad Ventur Martynka Wawrzyniak Liz Wendelbo Grant Worth ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Live Performances: FG.Ft March 3, 2012, 10:30pm: Dixon Place Xeno & Oaklander Ike Yard ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Film Screening: Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey March 10, 2012, 8pm: Anthology Film Archives Directed by Morgan Tovey Frost ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– For program schedule and show details, please contact Matthew Arkell: [email protected] / 212-226-4552

For press inquiries, please contact April Hunt: [email protected] Adam vanWestrienen at Mute Records: [email protected] / 646-502-7462

About envoy enterprises

envoy enterprises, located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, is a leading contemporary art gallery founded by Jimi Dams in 2005. The gallery represents a cross-generational group of international artists with multi-disciplinary, multimedia practices and works. Noteworthy artists represented here include Jared Buckhiester, Brandon Herman, Desi Santiago and David Flinn, amongst others. The gallery also serves as a liaison between music and art, having showcased musicians as diverse as Sonic Youth, Chaos Majik (Todd Pendu) and The Dead Weather. envoy enterprises has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Time Out New York, Harper’s Bazaar and Artforum, and its artists have exhibited in such spaces as The Whitney Museum of American Art, PS1 and Centre Pompidou Paris.

About NP

NP Contemporary Art Center, founded in 2009, is a think tank for the creation of contemporary art. It constitutes a unique, community-driven art haven with a strong international dimension and a dynamic program of exhibitions, performances, concerts, artists’ talks, publications, video and movie screenings. Our past exhibitions, which have been shown on a seasonal schedule, have included such varied artists and musicians as Laura Brothers, Tom Ellard (of Severed Heads fame), Robert Richards, Light Asylum and David Alexander Flinn. Our focus on new media and new forms of art and performance allow us to be prepared for an exciting, constantly evolving cultural landscape. Aside from the Fad Gadget/Frank Tovey exhibition, our other future projects include work by renowned science fiction illustrator Syd Mead, internet artist Kari Altmann and a soon-to-be-opened VR gallery.

About Mute Records

Mute Records was founded by Daniel Miller in 1978, and since then has signed and developed some of the world’s most influential recording artists – including Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Goldfrapp and Erasure – and become home to a crop of emerging talent and recent signings including Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny, Apparat and S.C.U.M. Whilst maintaining a firmly eclectic roster, from the earliest days of The Normal, Fad Gadget and DAF through to the techno era with artists such as Plastikman / Richie Hawtin and Speedy J, and to the present day artists such as Yeasayer, Josh T. Pearson and Liars. Mute Records also looks after a catalogue of seminal artists such as Can, Cabaret Voltaire, and The Residents.