Bad at Sports

Bad at Sports
  • 4.5 (93)
  • Visual Arts
  • Updated Semiweekly

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.

  1. 2d ago

    Bad at Sports Episode 947: Heather Hubbs

    Recorded live in the blazing Miami heat (seriously, surface-of-the-sun conditions), Duncan, Ryan, and crew sit down with Heather Hubbs, Executive Director of the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA), for a conversation about art fairs, artist ecosystems, and what it actually means to build a sustainable contemporary art community. From CBD waters and early-morning whiskey to global art economies and the future of ceramics, this episode captures Bad at Sports at its most "tailgate meets art world summit." Heather walks us through NADA's evolution from a member-driven trade association into a flexible, responsive platform that supports galleries, artists, and experimental projects across Miami, New York, and beyond. The conversation digs into post-pandemic market shifts, the logic behind fair restructuring (goodbye Sunday drag), and how Warsaw is unexpectedly a site of mass public hunger for art. Along the way: project spaces as incubators, ceramics as a rising force, and the enduring legacy of Chicago art world figures who shaped how fairs operate today. Also: inflatable dancing airmen. Chickens. Buttholes. You know, professionalism. New Art Dealers Alliance — https://www.newartdealers.org/ White Columns — https://www.whitecolumns.org/ Matthew Higgs — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Higgs 47 Canal — https://47canal.us/ Bureau — https://bureau-inc.com/ Green Gallery — http://www.thegreengallery.biz/ Good Weather — https://www.instagram.com/goodweather.llc/?hl=en Blade Study — https://bladestudy.net/ Rhona Hoffman — https://www.rhoffmangallery.com/ Art Chicago — https://www.expochicago.com/ SOFA Chicago — https://www.sofaexpo.com/ John Riepenhoff — https://www.johnriepenhoff.net/ Celebrity Book Club — https://celebritybookclubpodcast.com/

    40 min

  2. 6d ago

    Bad at Sports Episode 946: Chris Succo

    Chris Succo joins Duncan MacKenzie, Ryan Peter Miller, and Tom Sanford in Miami for a conversation that slides easily from pronunciation jokes into a deep dive on abstraction, immediacy, and the quiet, often unspoken labor of sustaining an art practice. Succo unpacks a studio logic built on contradiction: paintings that feel fast but are deeply considered, surfaces that appear minimal but hold layers of decision-making, and a practice that balances commercial necessity with experimental risk. The conversation ranges across Succo's "white paintings," photographic references, sculptural work in foundries, and the strange economics of being a working painter. Along the way, the crew hits Miami art fair nostalgia, Miley Cyrus backed by The Flaming Lips, and the enduring romance of making something that might never sell. This one is about intuition, material intelligence, and what it actually means to keep going in the studio. Chris Succo - https://chrissucco.com/images/   Mark LeBlanc — https://mleblancchicago.com/ Richard Prince — https://gagosian.com/artists/richard-prince/ Paul McCarthy — https://hauserwirth.com/artists/paul-mccarthy/ Willem de Kooning — https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/willem-de-kooning Bushwick Bill — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushwick_Bill Miley Cyrus — https://www.mileycyrus.com/ The Flaming Lips — https://www.flaminglips.com/ MC Serch — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MC_Serch Fugazi — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugazi Michael Harding Paint — https://www.michaelharding.co.uk/ Gamblin — https://gamblincolors.com/

    1h 9m

  3. May 25

    Bad at Sports Episode 945: Dreamsong Gallery

    Recorded in the sunburnt delirium of Miami, Duncan and crew stumble out of the Midwest and into the heat of the fairs, only to find a familiar sensibility in an unexpected place: Dreamsong. Rebecca Heidenberg joins the conversation to talk about building a gallery ecosystem in Minneapolis that resists isolation and instead fosters dialogue between regional artists and those working in larger art centers like New York and Los Angeles. From this conversation we get a portrait of a space that operates as both a commercial gallery and something closer to a cultural commons, anchored by programming, residency initiatives, and a commitment to community. From the founding logic of Dreamsong to the evolution of the Cloud House residency program, Rebecca outlines a model that prioritizes relationships over market pressure. The conversation moves fluidly between Minneapolis as a site of artistic possibility, the economics of running a gallery outside New York, and the strange spectacle of Miami's art fair ecosystem, including dystopian crypto exhibitions and phantom Lamborghini launches. Along the way: documentary filmmaking in Cuba, the legacy of an art-dealing mother, the emotional labor embedded in artistic practice, and the ongoing tension between "pretty" art and meaningful engagement in a complicated political moment. It's Midwest pragmatism meets art world absurdity. And somehow, it works. Rebecca Heidenberg — https://dreamsong.art/ Dreamsong — https://dreamsong.art/ Cloud House — https://thecloudhouse.org/ Gregory Smith — https://dreamsong.art/ Edgar Arceneaux — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Arceneaux Walker Art Center — https://walkerart.org/ Minneapolis College of Art and Design — https://www.mcad.edu/ Rachel Collier — https://rachelcollier.com/ Hair + Nails — https://hairandnailsart.com/ All My Relations Arts — https://allmyrelationsarts.org/ Minneapolis Institute of Art — https://new.artsmia.org/ Henry Moore — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Moore Douglas Kearney — https://www.douglaskearney.com/ Art Basel Miami Beach — https://www.artbasel.com/miami-beach Frieze Los Angeles — https://www.frieze.com/fairs/frieze-los-angeles Jean-Michel Basquiat — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_Basquiat

    44 min

  4. May 21

    Bad at Sports Episode 944: Amy Kligman

    Recorded live at NADA Art Fair, this episode finds the crew in full fair-mode: cramped booths, warm beverages, and the particular energy of artists, curators, and dealers trying to make something real happen in public. Joining the conversation is Amy Kligman, founder of Special Effects Gallery, a Kansas City–based gallery barely out of the gate and already showing at fairs. Alongside Tom Sanford, the conversation moves quickly from logistics and booth banter into something deeper: how artists carry histories, how objects hold people, and how a gallery can function less like a marketplace and more like a host. Kligman's project is both scrappy and intentional. Special Effects Gallery is rooted in Kansas City but outward-facing, acting as a connector, a translation device, and maybe even a love letter to regional practice that deserves a broader stage. The name itself comes from her parents' rural Indiana video store, a place that served as a portal to elsewhere - Special Effects Gallery carries that lineage and seeks out a similar ethos.    Amy Kligman — https://www.specialeffectsgallery.com/  https://www.amykligman.com/ Tom Sanford — https://www.tomsanford.art/ Kevin Demery — https://www.kevindemery.com Rashawn Griffin — https://www.instagram.com/ras9s/Charlotte Street Foundation — https://charlottestreet.org/ Plug Projects — https://plugprojects.org/ Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art — https://nelson-atkins.org/ NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance) — https://newartdealers.org/ Dana Schutz — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Schutz

    1h 9m

  5. May 18

    Bad at Sports Episode 943: Nanako Kono and Olivia Zubko

    From the humid chaos of Miami Art Week, Bad at Sports drops into the garden at NADA for a conversation with two artists from Western Exhibitions: Nanako Kono and Olivia Zubkov. A loose, funny, and surprisingly thoughtful discussion about painting that isn't painting, sculpture that remembers your body, and bathrooms as sites of intimacy, memory, and quiet surveillance. Nanako walks through her hyper-flat, acrylic-based "paintings" that live somewhere between screen, object, and comic logic. Olivia counters with slip-cast porcelain sculptures drawn from domestic life. Towels, tiles, soap dishes, and mirrors become witnesses to the private rituals of living. The conversation drifts between material process, Chicago's influence, comic culture, color as personality, and the strange emotional charge of everyday objects. Along the way, there are riffs on boob lights, mold-making ethics, and whether your bathroom fixtures are silently judging you. Ryan Peter Miller — https://badatsports.com Duncan MacKenzie — https://kurasmackenzie.com/ Western Exhibitions — https://westernexhibitions.com Nanako Kono — https://www.nanakokono-rolly.com/ Olivia Zubkov — https://www.oliviazubko.com/ Scott Speh — https://westernexhibitions.com NADA Art Fair — https://newartdealers.org Lumpen Radio — https://lumpenradio.com School of the Art Institute of Chicago — https://www.saic.edu University of Nevada, Las Vegas — https://www.unlv.edu Richard Rezac — https://www.richardrezac.com/ Julia Fish — https://juliafish.com/

    57 min

  6. May 14

    Bad at Sports Episode 942: Embajada Gallery

    Recorded live at NADA Art Fair, Episode 942 features a deeply generous conversation with gallerist and artist Christopher Rivera—founder of Embajada ("Embassy") Gallery in Puerto Rico. Joined by hosts Ryan Peter Miller, Tom Sanford, and William "Bill" Pereda, Rivera discusses artist-led infrastructures, building a gallery as a political and conceptual project, and the evolving ecosystem of Puerto Rican contemporary art. At the center of the conversation is Rivera's presentation of artist Taina Cruz whose hybrid practice—spanning painting, robotics, and installation—anchors the booth. The discussion moves fluidly between artistic identity, diaspora, conceptual vs. formal practices, and the strange alchemy of building a gallery that resists becoming purely commercial. This is also a conversation about organic growth: careers, relationships, and opportunities that emerge through trust, community, and sustained engagement rather than strategy alone.   NADA Art Fair — https://www.newartdealers.org/ Taina Cruz https://tainacruz.com/ Art Basel Miami Beach — https://www.artbasel.com/miami-beach Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) — https://www.mica.edu/ Yale University — https://www.yale.edu/ Hunter College — https://hunter.cuny.edu/ Marlborough Gallery — https://www.marlboroughgallery.com/ Rachel Uffner Gallery — https://www.racheluffnergallery.com/ Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art & Storytelling — https://www.sugarhillmuseum.org/ Artforum — https://www.artforum.com/Bad Bunny — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Bunny Joshua Nazario Lugo — https://joshuanazario.com/about Jan Anthony Olivares — https://www.instagram.com/janthonyolivares/ Carla Acevedo-Yates — https://mcachicago.org/about/who-we-are/people/carla-acevedo-yates William Wegman — https://www.wegmanworld.com/ Claude Monet — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet Camille Pissarro — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Pissarro

    58 min

  7. May 11

    Bad at Sports Episode 941: Myra Greene

    Recorded live in Atlanta at the Art Papers Symposium at Ponce City Market, Duncan MacKenzie and Brian Andrews sit down with artist, educator, and department chair Myra Greene for a conversation on materiality, identity, and the long arc from photography to textiles to weaving. The conversation centers on practice as evolution, about what happens when an artist refuses to stay in one lane, and about how material decisions carry conceptual weight. Greene reflects on her move from Columbia College Chicago to Spelman College, where she helped build a program grounded in storytelling, experimentation, and liberal arts integration. From ambrotypes to fabric dye to loom-based weaving, Greene's work consistently circles a central question: how can identity exist without the body?   Name Drops & Links Myra Greene — https://www.myragreene.com/ Duncan MacKenzie — https://kurasmackenzie.com/ Brian Andrews — https://www.brianandrews.org/ Spelman College — https://www.spelman.edu/ Columbia College Chicago — https://www.colum.edu/ Jeanne Gang — https://studiogang.com/ Mary Schmidt Campbell — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Schmidt_Campbell LaTanya Richardson Jackson — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTanya_Richardson Samuel L. Jackson — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_L._Jackson Candida Alvarez — https://candidaalvarez.com/ Patron Gallery — https://patrongallery.com/ The Weaving Mill — https://theweavingmill.com/ Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild — https://chgweavers.org/ Ansel Adams — https://www.anseladams.com/

    1 hr

  8. Apr 29

    Bad at Sports Episode 940: Emily Llamazales

    Recorded live during the Art Papers Symposium in Atlanta, Duncan MacKenzie and Brian Andrews sit down with artist Emily Llamazales to talk speculative biology, adaptive futures, and sculptural ecosystems that feel equal parts laboratory experiment and sci-fi relic. Emily's work merges biochemistry, ecology, and material experimentation into immersive sculptural forms that hover between organism and artifact. From translucent photo-printed fabrics to ceramic "creatures" built from invasive species logic, her practice imagines a world where mutation is survival and adaptation is aesthetic strategy. The conversation ranges from collaborative exhibition-making and studio ecology to invasive snails, granite outcrops, and the porous boundary between science fiction and real science. Along the way: holography, grant writing, fungi, and the possibility that the future might already be quietly evolving around us.     Name Drops (with links) Emily Llamazales - https://www.emilyllamazales.com/  Duncan MacKenzie — https://kurasmackenzie.com/ Brian Andrews — https://www.brianandrews.org/ Jacob O'Kelly — (curator, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta) https://www.artsatl.org/mint-names-new-executive-director-gallery-director-opens-four-shows/ Ben Steele — https://bensteeleart.com/ Aaron Putt — https://aaronkaganputt.com/ Burnaway — https://burnaway.org/ Art Papers — https://www.artpapers.org/ Clio Art Fair / Clio (Savannah project space) — https://www.clioartfair.com/ Arts Capital Atlanta — https://www.artscapitalatlanta.org/ Arabia Mountain — https://arabiaalliance.org/ Ichetucknee Springs — https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/ichetucknee-springs-state-park Suwannee River — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suwannee_River Apple Snail (invasive species) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_snail Dyssodia / "diamorpha" plants (granite outcrop flora) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyssodia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedum_smallii Scavengers Reign (TV series) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21056886/ Futurama — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149460/ Adrian Tchaikovsky — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Tchaikovsky

    1h 2m
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4.5
out of 5
93 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Bad at Sports
  • Years Active
    2005 - 2026
  • Episodes
    951
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © badatsports.com
  • Show Website
    Bad at Sports

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