Bad at Sports

We sit down with curator Rachel Adams to talk about institutional evolution, artists as infrastructure, and how curatorial practice shifts between museums and biennials. Rachel reflects on working with artists like Cauleen Smith, Liz Magic Laser, and Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, the power of slow curation, and why she's drawn to hybrid spaces that defy the market. Along the way: phantom titles, artist...

We sit down with a delegation of Irish curators—Michele Horrigan (Askeaton Contemporary Arts), Michael Hill (Temple Bar Gallery + Studios), and Mark O'Gorman (The Complex)—to unpack what it means to build artist-centered institutions on an island without a commercial art market. From weather-worn banana warehouses to smoke-machine-filled nightclubs, these curators share space-making tactics, post-...

Live from Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago In this intimate, laughter-filled episode recorded live at Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Duncan and Ryan sit down with artists  Jaqueline Cedar and Josh Dihle on the occasion of their concurrent solo exhibitions. The conversation traverses everything from Duchampian bathroom jokes to model train nostalgia, parenthood, masculinity, and why drawing still matters. We...

Live from the tailgate lounge at Chicago Architectural Biennial 6's booth at Expo Chicago, Duncan and Ryan welcome  Joey Orr , the newly appointed Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the MCA Chicago. In this densely brilliant and surprisingly hilarious conversation, Orr discusses what it means to steer a contemporary art institution in an era of deep social complexity, political polarization, and...

Broadcast live from Rice University (yes,  in Houston ), this episode of Bad at Sports brings together the curator of comics and cartoon art at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, Caitlin McGurk , and the Richmond-based zine publisher and comics obsessive behind Bubbles Fanzine , Brian Baynes . We dive deep into McGurk's new book Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art...

This week on Bad at Sports , Duncan MacKenzie and Ryan Peter Miller cruise their way into a murder mansion fever dream with Jake Nickell and Lance Curran, two of the minds behind Threadless —the Chicago-based t-shirt empire that helped invent crowdsourced artwear before we'd marketed terms like "creator economy" or "drop ship." What begins as a nostalgia trip (setting the stage for how the busines...

Recorded live at the  Comics Without Borders / Sans Frontières gathering at Rice University, this episode dives deep into international comics publishing, aesthetic risk-taking, and how underground networks drive a truly global comics culture. David Schilter, publisher and editor of Latvia's acclaimed kuš! comics, joins us alongside Pedro Vieira de Moura, Portuguese critic, writer, and co-founder...

In this episode, we sit down with architect, editor, and curator Florencia Rodriguez , Artistic Director of the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB ) 6 . We dig into the ideas shaping this year's edition—titled "Shift: Architecture in Times of Radical Change" —and her approach to curating a biennial that centers transformation, public space, and critical imagination. Rodriguez reflects on her journ...

Recorded live at Comics Sans Frontières, Houston For our milestone 900th episode, we headed to Houston and sat down with the brilliant Robert Pruitt, live at the Cats Conference: Comics Sans Frontières —a gathering of artists, thinkers, and cultural workers reshaping the future of comics, narrative, and speculative visual worlds. Live at a bar after the second conference day. So, this is never goi...

Gremlins, Borders, and Recipes for Resistance This week we're joined by Jessica Snow and Liga Spunde , two artists navigating the world through comics, street theater, and occasionally letterpress and photoshop. Jessica Snow walks us through her wide-ranging practice—from illustration and letterpress to building massive puppets and organizing street performances to attempting to confronting the en...

This week. Dana's back? She and Duncan sit down with artist Wafaa Bilal and curator Bana Kattan to discuss Bilal's powerful and deeply personal mid-career retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago . Known for his provocative, often participatory works that grapple with war, trauma, displacement, and surveillance, Bilal has long made the body both a site of resistance and a vessel of...

 In this episode, we talk Architectural Doucmentaries, Graphic Design, the cross over of the art and design audiences, and whether or not social practice could be a job: Kyle Bergman , is the mastermind behind the Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF), takes us through the wild ride of showcasing global architectural stories and films. He shares the festival's international charm and its role...

In the final episode recorded live from Stitch and Staple: The Artist Book Fair , we're thrilled to sit down with two incredible comic creators, Beth Hetland and Kyle O'Connell. This conversation dives deep into the world of comics and graphic narratives, with Hetland and O'Connell offering insights into their creative collaborations and shared comic interests. Beth Hetland, known for her heartfel...

In this episode, Bad at Sports welcomes artist, writer, and thinker  Emma Bergman to discuss a range of fascinating topics that blend the personal, the theoretical, and the speculative. We delve into Emma's ideas about utopian conviction and how they intersect with the looming specter of the coming apocalypse, and the games we can play with what is becoming our practical nightmare. From philosophi...

In this episode, Bad at Sports dives into the world of independent publishing, printmaking, and the intersections of art, academia, and production with two innovative presses pushing the boundaries of their respective fields. Hoof Print Press , based in Pilsen, Chicago, is not just a print shop, but a thriving print publisher that explores multiple media, including ceramics. Known for their dynami...

In this episode, we sit down with Cecilia Beaven, a dynamic Mexican-born artist, muralist, and illustrator whose work bridges the worlds of fine art and public spaces. Beaven's pieces have graced both urban environments and galleries, transforming her surroundings with a unique blend of surrealism, humor, and critical commentary. Her work explores themes of myth, identity, and the fantastical, ref...

Strap in, print nerds, because this week we're coming to you live from the wild and inky trenches of the  Staple and Stitch Artist Book Fair at 21C Chicago ! First up, we've got Angee Lennard  and Jessica Cochran from Process Process Print Publishers —the dynamic duo that's doing god's work by helping artists get their process-based, experimental prints out into the world (or at least onto some be...

  Live from the wild, eclectic, art-riddled halls of Stitch and Staple at the illustrious 21C hotel, we're diving into the deep blue—conceptually, at least—with this episode. We chat with the incredibly thoughtful Dawit L. Petros and Art History powerhouse Onur Öztürk about their work in the exhibition Prospetto a Mare at the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP). What's it about? Well, think:...

Live from Stitch and Staple at the illustrious 21C Hotel (because, why record in a normal studio when you can do it in a fancy hotel?), we dive into the deep end with Kris Graves , photographer extraordinaire and head honcho of KGP | Monolith , along with the relentlessly kind crew from Have a Nice Day Press . We grill Kris on everything from the role of documentary photography in social justice t...

In this episode, we catch up with  Meg Duguid , the new Executive Director of  Spudnik Press , Chicago's premier community printmaking studio. Meg shares her vision for the future of the Press, an organization known for fostering an inclusive environment where artists of all levels can access printmaking resources, develop their craft, and engage with a vibrant, supportive artistic community. Spud...

A strange and lucky number for an episode packed with the profound! This week, we dive deep into design, architecture, and the unique culture of Chicago. We kick things off with an interview featuring Sharon & Guy , the dynamic design collaborative whose thought-provoking artworks are included in The Spaces We Call Home , currently on view at the DePaul Art Museum . They're joined by Marin R. Sull...

In this episode of Bad at Sports , we're coming to you live from the Stitch and Staple Artist Book Fair at 21C Museum Hotels! Join us as we chat with Jennifer Murray , about the evolving landscape of artist book fairs and the growing role of alternative exhibition spaces. We also dive into the mind of Evan Fusco , a rising artist and art producer whose multidisciplinary practice explores themes of...

  In this milestone episode of  Bad at Sports , we welcome back Scott Speh, the founder and director of  Western Exhibitions , to celebrate 20 years of the gallery's existence and its significant role in shaping the Chicago art scene. It's been 19 years since Scott's last appearance on the show, and in this conversation, we dive deep into the journey of Western Exhibitions, its impact on the city'...

In this episode of  Bad at Sports , we sit down with Chicago-based artist and sculptor  Betsy Odom , whose work uniquely blends high craftsmanship with intentional moments when the craft fails. Odom's sculptures often serve as playful critiques of mass cultural phenomena, gendered objects, and sporting culture, creating pieces that are both visually stunning and conceptually layered. With a deep f...

In this episode, we explore Ours Is The Hand That Sews Time , a two-person exhibition at M. LeBlanc featuring new work by father and son, Peter and Jake Fagundo. Both artists challenge the notion of painting as a finished product, instead embracing it as a continuous, evolving process. Peter, a longtime professor at SAIC, draws from his deep archive of past drawings and appropriated imagery, creat...