Podcast
Bad at Sports
Hosted by Bad at Sports · EN
Bad At Sports is a weekly podcast about contemporary art. Founded in 2005, the series focuses on presenting the practices of artists, curators, critics, dealers, various other arts professionals through an online audio format.
55episodes
Episodes
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Bad at Sports Episode 962: Sophia Chai
2w ago00:32:09Tap to summarizeThis week Duncan MacKenzie and Brian Andrews sit down with artist Sophia Chai at the Door County Contemporary Art Fair to discuss photography that insists on becoming something else. Working between painting, sculpture, installation, and large-format analog photography, Chai creates images that challenge our assumptions about perspective, representation, and the mechanics of seeing itself. The conversation moves from camera obscuras and four-by-five view cameras to Plato's Allegory of the Cave, cave painting, Korean language, immigration, and the colonial language embedded within photographic practice. Chai reflects on transforming her graduate studio into a walk-in camera obscura after September 11th, collaborating with architectural space rather than simply depicting it, and asks whether photography might become a practice of witnessing rather than capturing. Name Drops & Links Sophia Chai – https://www.sophiachai.com Hair + Nails – https://hairandnailsart.com/ University of Illinois Chicago School of Art & Art History – https://artandarthistory.uic.edu/ Kerry James Marshall – https://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/kerry-james-marshall Judith Kirshner – https://stories.mcachicago.org/speaker/judith-kirshner/ Plato – https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato/ Camera Obscura – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura Plato's Allegory of the Cave – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave Jeff Wall – https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/jeff-wall Barbara Kasten – https://barbarakasten.net/ Johannes Vermeer – https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/rijksstudio/artists/johannes-vermeer Peter Jackson – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jackson The Lord of the Rings – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(film_series)
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Bad at Sports Episode 961: Tanner MacArthur
2w ago01:12:42Tap to summarizeTanner MacArthur joins Bad at Sports live from Door County Contemporary for a conversation that begins with secret fry sauce recipes and somehow ends with the shape of Delaware as a sandwich-eating methodology. MacArthur discusses his dual role as both artist and gallerist through his Milwaukee project space, Addendum, founded alongside James Stepanek as an extension of No Instructions Gallery. The conversation moves through contemporary painting, Midwestern DIY culture, artist-run spaces, collecting habits in the Midwest, labor history, and the strange but fertile ground between formal abstraction and dumpster diving. Tanner speaks about his own assemblage-based painting practice, his evolution from hard-edge abstraction into sculptural wall works built from salvaged materials, and his desire to reconnect with painting's possibilities through color, surface, and material experimentation. The discussion also highlights a growing generation of Milwaukee artists creating new spaces and opportunities outside traditional institutions, including apartment galleries, publishing projects, and experimental exhibition venues. Name Drops and Links: Tanner MacArthur – https://www.tannermacarthur.com/ Addendum Gallery – https://addendum.gallery/ No Instructions Gallery – https://www.noinstructs.com/ Martyna Alexander – https://www.instagram.com/martyna_alexander Meg White (artist) – https://www.meganwhite.work/ Tony Conrad – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Conrad Lawrence University – https://www.lawrence.edu/ University of Wisconsin–Madison – https://www.wisc.edu/ University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts – https://uwm.edu/arts/ Experimental Sculpture Room (ESR) – https://experimentalsculptureroom.com/ Milwaukee Art Museum – https://mam.org/ Gertrude Abercrombie – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Abercrombie Kim Sajet – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Sajet Door County Contemporary – https://www.doorcountycontemporary.com/
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Bad at Sports Episode 960: Shane Walsh
3w ago00:39:23Tap to summarizeThis episode on Bad at Sports, Duncan MacKenzie, Ryan Peter Miller, and Brian Andrews sit down with artist, organizer, and Door County Contemporary co-founder Shane Walsh at the close of another sunny and slightly delirious weekend in Door County. The conversation ranges from the growth of the Door County Contemporary fair, the peculiar magic of creating a temporary art community in Wisconsin, and the challenge of building an audience for contemporary art outside major metropolitan centers. Along the way, Shane discusses his own abstract painting practice, the virtues of Detroit-style pizza, and why a successful art fair might really just be "arts summer camp." Shane talks about the evolution of Door County Contemporary from its inaugural edition into a larger and more ambitious event, reflecting on how local partnerships, community engagement, and a relaxed atmosphere have helped make the fair feel distinct from the larger art-world circuit. The crew also dives into Shane's own painting practice: lush, unhinged abstractions informed equally by modernist painting histories and the visual language of 1990s punk culture. The result is a conversation about painting, community, and finding ways to make art experiences feel meaningful, generous, and fun. Name Drops and Links: Shane Walsh – https://shanewalshpaintings.com/home.html Door County Contemporary – https://www.doorcountycontemporary.com/ Pen Art School of Door County – https://peninsulaschoolofart.org/ OS Projects – https://www.osprojects.art/ Willem de Kooning – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_de_Kooning Helen Frankenthaler – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Frankenthaler Johnny Carson – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Carson
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Bad at Sports Episode 959: Shane McAdams
3w ago01:14:47Tap to summarizeThis week Duncan MacKenzie and Ryan Peter Miller head north to the Door County Contemporary Art Fair to sit down with artist, curator, writer, gallerist, and all-around art evangelist Shane McAdams. Broadcasting from a gazebo in Door County, Wisconsin, the conversation ranges from the weather, custard, and pontoon boats to larger questions about why contemporary art struggles to reach broader publics, why the Midwest needs more artist-run infrastructure, and how we might create healthier cultural ecosystems. McAdams makes the case for a bigger, messier, more porous art world—one where commercial galleries, nonprofits, academia, collectors, artists, and curious newcomers all coexist. This is a conversation about building bridges: between Chicago and Minneapolis, between contemporary art and regional audiences, between artists and the merely art-curious. It is also a reminder that art remains one of the few places where genuine meaning-making and community formation can still occur. Name Drops Shane McAdams https://www.shanemcadams.com/ Door County Contemporary Art Fair https://www.doorcountycontemporary.com/ Real Tinsel Gallery https://www.realtinsel.com/ Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel https://www.saintkatearts.com/ Peninsula School of Art https://www.peninsulaschoolofart.org/ Claire Ashley https://clairehelenashley.com/ David Letterman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Letterman Marcel Duchamp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp Robert Ryman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ryman James Audubon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_James_Audubon Mark Glimcher / Pace Gallery https://www.pacegallery.com/ Peter Buggenhout https://www.axel-vervoordt.com/gallery/artists/peter-buggenhout University of Chicago https://www.uchicago.edu/ University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art https://art.uga.edu/ Trainspotting https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117951/ Miami Art Week https://www.miamiartweek.org/
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Bad at Sports Episode 958: Rafael Salas
Jul 901:12:36Tap to summarizeThis week Duncan MacKenzie and Ryan Peter Miller sit down with artist and educator Rafael Salas for a wide-ranging conversation about rural Wisconsin, magical realism, county fairs, country music, identity, and the contested landscapes of contemporary America. Salas discusses growing up in rural Wisconsin, returning to the Midwest after years in New York, and how his paintings inhabit a space between celebration and unease. The conversation moves from the influence of Wisconsin Death Trip to the political symbolism of county fairs, mixed-race identity, landscape painting traditions, and the challenge of making meaningful contemporary art from outside major art centers. Name Drops and links: Rafael Salas – https://www.rafaelsalas.com/ Door County Contemporary - https://www.doorcountycontemporary.com/ Ripon College – https://www.ripon.edu/ Museum of Wisconsin Art – https://wisconsinart.org/ Newcity – https://www.newcity.com/ Michael Lesy (Wisconsin Death Trip) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lesy Wisconsin Death Trip – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Death_Trip Charles Van Schaick – https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/record/image/W0128W2 Mark Tansey – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Tansey Grant Wood – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Wood Cormac McCarthy – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy Caspar David Friedrich – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_David_Friedrich Johnny Cash – https://www.johnnycash.com/ Dolly Parton – https://dollyparton.com/ Willie Nelson – https://willienelson.com/ Hank Williams – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Williams Woody Guthrie – https://www.woodyguthrie.org/ Neil Young – https://neilyoungarchives.com/ Marquette University – https://www.marquette.edu/ John McCain – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain Sarah Palin – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin Barack Obama – https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/
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Bad at Sports Episode 957: Andrew Rafacz
Jul 200:55:33Tap to summarizeRecorded live at Door County Contemporary, Duncan MacKenzie and Ryan Peter Miller finally correct a seventeen-year oversight and sit down with Chicago gallerist Andrew Rafacz. From the Bucket Rider days in Pilsen to twenty-five years of building a gallery practice rooted in friendship, advocacy, and weird Midwestern generosity, Rafacz reflects on Chicago's changing art scene, the pressures of art fairs, the realities of representation, and why artists shouldn't mistake social media attention for support. Along the way: the Spray Show, shower beers, Cody Hudson, Pace Gallery's roster cuts, and the strange beauty of making things nobody asked for. Name Drops & Links Andrew Rafacz Gallery — https://andrewrafacz.com Cody Hudson — https://www.struggleinc.com/ Michelle Grabner — michellegrabner.com Mark Bloch — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bloch_(artist) Shane McAdams — https://www.shanemcadams.com Cindy Sherman — https://www.moma.org/artists/5392 Robert Rauschenberg — https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org Roger Brown — https://www.richardgraygallery.com/artists/estate-of-roger-brown Nancy Spero — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Spero Leon Golub — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Golub Christina Ramberg — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Ramberg Griffin Goodman — https://www.griffingoodman.com Door County Contemporary — https://www.doorcountycontemporary.com EXPO Chicago — https://www.expochicago.com One After 909 Gallery —https://oneafter909.org/ Foxy Production — https://www.foxyproduction.com The Art Institute of Chicago — https://www.artic.edu Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago — https://mcachicago.org Pace Gallery — https://www.pacegallery.com Gilles Deleuze — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_Deleuze
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Bad at Sports Episode 956: Phoenix Brown
Jun 2900:40:27Tap to summarizeThis week on Bad at Sports, Duncan MacKenzie and Ryan Peter Miller sit down with Milwaukee-based artist, curator, musician, and all-around multi-hyphenate Phoenix Brown. The conversation begins with Phoenix's drawings in the Portrait Society exhibition and quickly expands into vulnerability, symbolism, self-healing, lizards from Italy, Midwestern art communities, music, curatorial practice, and the challenges of balancing multiple creative lives. Phoenix discusses how personal experiences become encoded into a visual language of recurring symbols—flowers, fire, rivers, and tailless lizards—while reflecting on trust, disclosure, and the ways artists reveal themselves through their work without always saying everything outright. Phoenix also shares details about their work as curator at the Bronzeville Center for the Arts, efforts to build Milwaukee's first museum dedicated to artists of the African diaspora, and their band Home Going. Links Phoenix Brown: https://phoenixbrown.format.com/ Bronzeville Center for the Arts: https://bcamke.org/ Portrait Society Gallery: https://www.portraitsocietygallery.com/ Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD): https://www.miad.edu/ Milwaukee Art Museum: https://mam.org/ Cincinnati Art Museum: https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/ Sculpture Milwaukee: https://www.sculpturemilwaukee.com/ Martine Syms: https://www.martinesyms.com/ CK Ledesma: https://bcamke.org/event/ck-ledesma-if-you-put-your-ear-to-it-you-can-hear-the-waves/ Door County Contemporary https://www.doorcountycontemporary.com/
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Bad at Sports Episode 955: Mindy Rose Schwartz
Jun 2500:53:54Tap to summarizeThis week on Bad at Sports, Brian Andrews, Ryan Peter Miller, and Duncan MacKenzie sit down with Chicago artist Mindy Rose Schwartz to discuss Countersealed, her recent exhibition at M. LeBlanc Gallery. The conversation explores a deeply immersive exhibition built around ceramic scorpions emerging from cracks in the gallery floor, glowing bronze aliens, reconstructed fur animals, monumental incense sculptures, woven memorial forms, and a contemporary incantation bowl based on ancient Mesopotamian protective magic. Schwartz discusses material experimentation, memory, ecology, astrology, political anxiety, and the possibility of making art that is simultaneously playful, hopeful, sentimental, and critical. Name drops and links: Mindy Rose Schwartz – https://www.mindyroseschwartz.com M. Leblanc Gallery - https://mleblancchicago.com/ Louise Bourgeois – https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/louise-bourgeois-2351/art-louise-bourgeois Helen Mirra – https://hmirra.net/ Luba Krejci – https://browngrotta.com/artists/luba-krejci Dr. Justin Sledge – https://www.esoterica.tv King's Leap Gallery – https://www.kingsleapfinearts.com/
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Bad at Sports Episode 954: Heather Mekkelson
Jun 2200:55:47Tap to summarizeThis week on Bad at Sports, Brian Andrews and Ryan Peter Miller sit down with Chicago artist Heather Mekkelson to discuss her recent paired exhibitions, Bass Note at 65GRAND and Snare at Boundary. Across two installations separated by nearly sixteen miles of Chicago, Mekkelson transforms obsolete communication technologies into sprawling sculptural environments wrapped in jute. The conversation explores technological obsolescence, archaeology, sound, labor, environmental extraction, analog nostalgia, artistic trust, and the strange afterlives of the materials we leave behind. From bog-preserved artifacts and ancient spears to dead HDMI cables and power distribution boxes, Mekkelson traces the resonances between human invention and human consequence. Name Drops and links Heather Mekkelson — https://www.heathermekkelson.com/ 65GRAND — https://www.65grand.com/ Boundary — https://www.boundarychicago.space/ Clacton Spear — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clacton_Spear Ancient Danish Corded Skirt (Egtved Girl context) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egtved_Girl
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Bad at Sports Episode 953: George Scheer
Jun 1800:59:56Tap to summarizeExecutive Director of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, former co-founder of Elsewhere Museum, printmaking evangelist, institutional theorist, and recovering residency founder George Scheer joins Duncan and Ryan for a sprawling conversation about artist-centered institutions, the legacy of Robert Blackburn, socially engaged practice, the economics of DIY arts infrastructures, and what happens when artists try to build sustainable worlds inside systems that rarely reward care work. The conversation moves from the legendary Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop to the anarchic magic of Elsewhere's living archive, through New Orleans arts policy, cross-sector cultural work, printmaking discourse, academia, administration, and the impossible balancing act between artists, institutions, donors, and communities. George discusses the evolution of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts from grantmaking organization to one of the most significant artist studio and printmaking ecosystems in the country, including the continuation of Blackburn's radical community printshop model and the preservation of a major archive featuring artists like Faith Ringgold, Elizabeth Catlett, and Romare Bearden. Name Drops & Links Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts — https://www.efanyc.org/ Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop — https://www.rbpmw-efanyc.org/ Elsewhere Museum — https://goelsewhere.org/ NADA New York — https://www.newartdealers.org/ Library of Congress — https://www.loc.gov/ Mellon Foundation — https://www.mellon.org/ Faith Ringgold — https://www.faithringgold.com/ Elizabeth Catlett — https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-Catlett Romare Bearden — https://beardenfoundation.org/ Jasper Johns — https://www.jasper-johns.com/ Robert Rauschenberg Foundation — https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/ Common Field — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Field Creative Time — https://creativetime.org/ Walker Art Center — https://walkerart.org/ Central Saint Martins — https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/central-saint-martins University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — https://www.unc.edu/ Duke University — https://duke.edu/
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