Frank Tovey, an english musician signed on Mute Records, has passed away ten years ago and an exhibition in New York celebrates at the moment the work of that unique musician/performer.
Frank came from a performance background and his live shows were raw, strong, unique and festive in a strange way: it wasn't rare he ended up the concert covered in feathers or even physically hurt as he had more than a tendency to immerge himself in his shows and, in a way not unlike Iggy Pop's, his body was at time merely a tool to display emotions and intense involvement. He therefore often ended up bruised and battered, but the crowd loved it. He was a pionneer as he successfully mixed together electronic music, performance, punkish attitude, slick humour and great songs (to name a few: Back To Nature, Ricky's Hand, Lady Shave and Collapsing New People).
Mute Records has released a few years ago a great documentary (directed by his daughter, Morgan) about his life and one can see why this man was so unique: music often see performers that act and pose and reflects while Frank got into his own skin and lived the moment. He was a music performance at its best. Nothing rehearsed, nothing played, nothing mimicked: what you see is what you get, and sometimes you get blood on your clothes. Or a feather in your eye.
A New York gallery has commissionned artists to evocate his work thru theirs and the excellent Dazed Digital shows a few of these new works.
pictures of some of the works displayed at the exhibition: http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/gallery/22/12860/0/fgft-remem...
source: http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/12860/1/fgft-remember...
the NYC gallery: http://www.envoyenterprises.com/
Fad Gadget on Mute: http://mute.com/frank-tovey-and-the-pyros/exhibition-live-music-performa...
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