Bad At Sports

This week Clare Britt from Fraction Workspace stopsby to give the run down on a couple of the European shows with Duncan and Joanna.  Namely Documenta and Munster. She will be back next week To consider Venice.  Also the fine and wacky folks form The Alliance of Pentaphilic Curators show up to encourage Philip von Zweck's friends to  explain why it should have been them while they "roast the bastard" in recognition of the sizable grant he won this year.The opening and closing songs of this week's show are there largely to amuse Kaveh Soofi. If you don't get it, you don't, sorry.  

The show opens with a bang! Britton Bertran's car is hit and we are the witnesses. And as you listen to this week's intro designed specifically to irritate Duncan, pause a moment and say to yourself..."Seriously?  Episode 104?"  Richard's parents have called us both to mention how happy they are.  Here we are poised on the cusp of another Bad at Sports season and this week Duncan is joined by friends of the show Lane Relyea and Claire Pentecost to interview/interrogate French American Theorist and Art Critic Brian Holmes.   As we roll over the two year mark we once again are faced with questions about the Bad at Sports Project.  We know what we think but once again we want to hear from you.  Please email your thoughts about the show and your hopes for it's future to badatsports@gmail.com please use the header "Hope Chest."  Thanks in advance for taking the time to help us get better. Piet Zwart Institute Bio for Brian Holmes- Brian Holmes is an art and cultural critic, activist and translator, living i

Duncan and Terri talk to Carol Becker about the School of the Art Institute, the future of arts education, and her new position at Columbia University.ALSO: THE INCREDIBLE RETURN OF MIKE AND THE 30 SECONDS MOVIE REVIEWS with bonus seconds.Artist, Art Historian, and Dean, of Faculty and Senior Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the author of numerous articles and several books with many foreign editors. Her book publications include: The Invisible Drama: Women and The Anxiety of Change; The Subversive Imagination: Artists, Society, and Social Responsibility; Zones of Contention: Essays on Art, Institutions, Gender, and Anxiety; and most recently, Surpassing the Spectacle: Global Transformations and the Changing Politics of Art. Prelude to published interview taken from the book, Conversations Before the End of Time by Suzi Gablik. “In 1994, Carol Becker was appointed dean and vice-president for academic affairs of the School of the

This week’s show has everything. Brian and Marc with critic, writer, and all around interesting guy Julian Myers on rock and rioting.   Terri,  Joanna and Danielle Egan-Miller talk to Arik Verezhensky proprietor of Gemini Fine Books & Arts, Ltd. A collector and dealer in rare and amazing art and books, and art books, and maybe a few books on art.  To top it all off the show wraps up with some obscure Japanese Hip-Hop, Richard’s new favorite genre of music.

AMANDA IS BACK!!! Duncan and Amanda talk to Jim Duignan about his current project at the Hyde Park Art Center. Super friend of Bad at Sports (and Director of Exhibitions at the HPAC) Allison Peters is there too! To wit: "Jim Duignan is an artist and founder of the Stockyard Institute, a project that draws attention to the visionary status of youth and people through the arts in a variety of Chicago neighborhoods. Stockyard Institute publishes AREA Chicago Arts, Education, Activism, a biannual publication in Chicago. Jim begins his “residency? at the Art Center in preparation for Pedagogical Factory, an exhibition at the Hyde Park Art Center in Gallery 1, opening this summer. He’ll be at the Art Center on Thursdays in the Second Floor Studios on the west side of the building. Stop in for a chat with Jim to find out more about his project!" ...music and passion are always in fashion....

Richard joins Pittsburgh bureau chiefs Katie Reilly and Craig Fox along with special correspondent Sarah Guernsey to discuss the Mattress Factory.Also Terri and Joanna discuss Don DeLillo's latest Falling Man: A Novel.100 shows. Wow.

Joanna, Amanda and Terri talk to Green Lantern Director Caroline Picard.Marc and Brian talk to the Aaron Gach of the Center for Tactical Magic in San Francisco.Richard continues his slide into "Ed Anger"dom.

This week Duncan and Richard talk to Julie Rodrigues Widholm and a number of the artists from the show about the hot hot hot new show at the MCA - Escultura Social: A New Generation of Art from Mexico City. Duncan talks to Packard Jennings about his residency at ThreeWalls.Richard is turning into Ed Anger.

THIS WEEK: Superstar gallerist Jack Hanley is interviewed by Brian and Marc. Our own beloved Mike Benedetto reviews Terry Gilliam's Tideland and is responsible for the intro to this week's show. The London bureau's Christian and Emily talk about lots of gallery shows.

Jeff Wall, people! Canadian superstar Jeff Wall is interviewed by Duncan and Richard when he was in Chicago for the opening of his huge new show at the Art Institute of Chicago: Jeff Wall June 29-September 23, 2007 Regenstein Hall Jeff Wall is considered one of the most acclaimed and influential artists of his generation. He uses state-of-the-art photographic and computer technologies to make pictures that evoke the composition, scale, and ambition of the grandest history paintings. This exhibition presents a comprehensive overview of Wall's nearly 30-year career. Next, Jonathan Messinger and Zach Dodson the force behind Featherproof Books, an indie publisher based here in Chicago talk to Terri and Joanna at the Printers Row Book Fair. Finally, Amanda is leaving for New York! We say our fond farewells, but not goodbyes to Amanda Browder who has taken a position with the New York office of Bad at Sports.

Allright so my computer is fairly f-ed and therefore this show note will be even less witty than usual. A bunch of post-its are wedged between the keyboard and the video processor to hold it in place. Curse you IBM. Duncan and Marc LeBlanc talk to Caleb Lyons of Old Gold Gallery and formerly of Art Ledge.  Duncan talks to artist Lisa Boumstein-Smalley about her new show at the Alfedena Gallery. Brian Andrews and Marc LeBlanc talk to Justin Hansch about Justin’s Museum of Contemporary Art. We collectively apologize for the crappy sound quality on this one but we are working to correct the problem. Sarah corrects BAS on their grammar.

This Week: Guest interviewer Lisa Dorin talks to German artist Jana Gunstheimer (see the blurb shamelessly lifted from the AIC website, below). ALSO we get two different perspectives on the fight over the Public Art Program and how they handle the selection and approval process. Kathryn talks to Olga Stefan Executive Director of the Chicago Artists' Coalition at Monday's protest rally, and Duncan talks to Gregory Knight, Deputy Commissioner/ Visual Arts of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs after the vote was in. This conflict has been actively discussed on our blog, see what the hoopla is about! Richard spent a lot of time chuckling to himself about the music cues in this weeks show. German artist Jana Gunstheimer combines her academic training in ethnology with a refined figurative drawing practice to observe and comment on aspects of her own culture. Gunstheimer responds to the transformations she sees taking place in contemporary German society including postindustrial desolation, drastic un

This week Michelle Grabner and Duncan interview Gaylen Gerber. "Gaylen Gerber's work often incorporates the artwork of other artists in its realization. Gerber asks other artists to cooperate with him and let their work be installed against the ground he provides. In doing so he focuses our attention on a central aspect of perception, which is that to perceive something at all you must first be able to perceive it as distinct from its context or background. By positioning his work as the contextual ground against which we see another work of art, Gerber draws attention to the permeability of the distinctions between object and context and fundamentally questions the stability of perception itself. Gaylen Gerber has exhibited widely including recent exhibitions and cooperative projects at the Musee d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean in Luxembourg, Luxembourg; FRAC-Bourgogne and Musee des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, France; Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland; and The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

Are you tired of all the self obsessed, cynical, angry art that’s out there today? Well Alex  Jovanovich is out there to fix what ails you and point you in the right direction! Terri talks to Alex about his Loveliness Workshops. Next, Kathryn talks to Paul Klein about the screwed up stuff going on with public art funding in Chicago. Paul is working of some interesting activist stuff and we will post a letter/manifesto on the recent events, on our blog.  Then, Mark Staff Brandl checks in from the Central Europe Bureau! Last, Mike Benedetto, with another Art Superstar Cinema Spotlight. The Supertsar is Monique Meloche. The movie is Volver directed by Pedro Almodovar. Might made his own bed music for this bit. Wow.  Wow, what a whole lot of show.  

This week Terri talks to Gregg Bordowitz and David Getsy about queer art, queer theory and what it means to be queer in 2007.  Duncan and Meg were there too, but it is mostly Terri, Gregg and David’s show. Gregg Bordowitz is a writer, AIDS activist, and film-and videomaker. His work, including Fast Trip, Long Drop (1993) and Habit (2001), documents his personal experiences of testing positive and living with HIV within the context of a personal and global crisis. His writings are collected in The AIDS Crisis is Ridiculous and Other Writings:1986-2003. He is currently on faculty in the Film Video and New Media department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. David Getsy is an author, theorist and Assistant Professor of 19th and early 20th Century Art Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Special Correspondent Tony Fitzpatrick interviews Time Out Chicago's Ruth Lopez about just about everything. It's an engaging and insightful conversation. Duncan and Richard chime in now and again. The show closes with further proof that if there is an obscure musical tidbit in Tony's past, we can find it.    

This week Book Reviews and West Coast News! Terri Griffith and Joanna Topor review Miranda July’s book No One Belongs Here More Than You. Worked in to the commentary is discussion of the Mackenzie’s sex life and Oprah’s use of the phrase Vah-Jay-Jay. Brian Andrews and Marc LeBlanc talk to curator Joseph del Pesco and artist Scott Oliver about the Collective Foundation.  The Collective Foundation (CF) is a temporary organization. The concept of curator Joseph del Pesco and artist Scott Oliver, CF relies on the contributions of numerous people who are working to advance art in the Bay Area. During the organization's launch at YBCA, The Foundation will set up temporary headquarters in our galleries. They will hold think-tank discussions, how-to sessions for navigating the CF Web interface, and Shotgun Review Second Saturdays where participants will review as many Bay Area art shows as possible. The furniture for the Foundation’s headquarters will be borrowed from local individuals, modified for the exhib

This week Art Fair Part Deux. In response to blog comments I am attempting something new, and listing the times of the bits. Which I must say is one more damn task to complete for the show, but I'll try it and see if it drives me insane. 0:00-11:25 Intro, overall recap and lots of snotty commentary by Duncan, Amanda, and Richard.  11:40-22:10 Team Browder (Amanda and Dolly Browder) with Susan Hobbs on the Susan Hobbs Gallery. 22:20-29:05 Team Queer Ghetto Bus (Terri, Serena and Meg) talk to folks from the Thomas Robertello Gallery: guests Thomas Robertello , Adam Ekberg ,Lily McElroy, Hybinette + Richards 29:10-34:00 TB talks to artist David Opdyke with Roebling Hall Art Gallery and Dolly gives some of the best insight ever! 34:10-37:38 TQGB talks to the Williamsburg based Eyewash Gallery  and Larry Walczak and Paul Kurman. 37:50-46:05 TB talks to Santiago Cucullu with High Point Press about his work. 46:20-49:55 TQGB talks to the delightful artist Anni Holm with Orleans Str

As we recover from Sharkstock 2007 we diligently post Episode #87 the first installment of our team coverage of Artropolis, Version, Bridge, Sharkstock and a bunch of other cool stuff we went to in the last few days. Also prior to our soiree at Sonotheque we it Tony Fitzpatrick's kickass opening at Architrove which was so crowded I nearly had a panic attack, I got to meet his Mom, who was utterly delightful. Paul Klein spent most of the fair weekend worried that we were stalking him as we were oddly on the exact same schedule at all times. This weeks installment consists of a mix of stuff, next week we focus on interviews with gallerists and artists. To top it all off special guest star Dolly Browder joins in!!! The intro has a name mysteriously bleeped out. Cast your vote on our blog on who you think it was. Team Browder reviews New InSight the exhibition of fancy-pants fresh young MFA's curated by Susanne Ghez who, despite being a perfectly l

THIS WEEK: Interviews with Leslie Hindman, Wesley “The Shark? Kimler,  and Michael “Makes icky noises into the mic which I need to edit out? Workman. Marc LeBlanc and Brian Andrews talk Los Angeles Galleries at 95 miles per hour. ATTENTION ALL BAD AT SPORTS LISTENERS: Amanda’s Mom will be in Chicago next week! When you are at the various and sundry art fairs BE SURE to keep an eye out for Amanda and her Mom. She apparently has re-upped her restraining order against Duncan. YOU CAN MEET AMANDA’S MOM (who will autograph any body part you’d like) and meet us at the following shindig: April 27, 2007 VERSION FESTIVAL ART PARTY (Special guest starring Bad at Sports-we'd better be on the damn list)Join Version and Lumpen and a cabal of artists and weirdos at Sonotheque for an afterparty and celebration of our victory over the forces of Artropolis. 9 pm - 2 am. Performances by Skarekrau Radio Lemon Pretend Zeroth DJs Liz Armstrong and Rand Sevilla VJ Ron MLF. Free Svedka vodka drinks til 10 pm. $10 cover.