Liam Gillick. That is right, the man whose imagination can take him
anywhere. A transparent master of the question of Modernity? Cat
lover? Designer/author/theorist/artist/architect? The son Donald Judd never wanted? Enigma cloaked in riddle? Relational Aesthetic
celebrity? All these things and more... We at Bad at Sports try and
get to the bottom of Liam's magic in this hour-long interview.

The last element in Liam Gillick's 4 part global retrospective, "Three perspectives and a short scenario" will run through January 10th at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. 

Accompanying that exhibition, Gillick has produced "The one hundred and sixty-third floor: Liam Gillick Curates the Collection," which is also be on view.

Liam Gillick emerged in the early 1990s as part of a re-energized British art scene, producing a sophisticated body of work ranging from his signature "platform" sculptures -- architectural structures made of aluminum and colored Plexiglas that facilitate or complicate social interaction -- to wall paintings, text sculptures, and published texts that reflect on the increasing gap between utopian idealism and the actualities of the world.

His work joins that of generational peers such as Rirkrit Tiravanija and Philippe Parreno in defining what critic Nicholas Bourriaud described as "relational aesthetics," an approach that emphasizes the shifting social role and function of art at the turn of the millennium. Gillick's work has had a profound impact on a contemporary understanding of how art and architecture influence, and are themselves influenced by, interpersonal communication and interactions in the public sphere.

This exhibition is presented in association with the Witte de With in Rotterdam, Kunsthalle Zurich, and the Kunstverein in Munich. It is the most significant and comprehensive exhibition of Gillick's work in an American museum to date, comprising a major site-specific installation in the gallery ceiling as well as a presentation of his design and published works, and a film documenting projects from the entirety of his career. The MCA is the only American venue for the exhibition.

Jeremy Deller. That's right, this week we have one of the world's most interesting contemporary artists talking about "What It Is," a show and tour he has worked on, that appeared at The Hammer, the New Museum and now, Chicago's MCA, featuring a car that was bombed-out during the Iraq war. He is joined by artist Esam Pasha to talk about "What It Is"

Deller's work often challenges our assumptions about what "is" and "is not" art and uses the banner term "art" to gain access to, extend, push, and develop local cultures.  Deller is also the first Turner Prize-winner to appear in the 230 hours of the Bad at Sports show.

Schedule of Participants at the MCA http://www.mcachicago.org/deller/
Jeremy Deller http://www.jeremydeller.org/
Esam Pasha http://www.artvitae.com/artist_portfolio.asp?aist_id=217
MCA Release about the show http://www.mcachicago.org/exhibitions/exh_detail.php?id=219

This week Duncan and Richard talk to Anthony Elms about WhiteWalls! Also the book review has made its glorious return. Terri and Joanna review “The American Painter Emma Dial” by Samantha Peale. Rejoice and be glad!

This week: Duncan leads a panel discussion on the the state of painting and current MCA exhibition Constellations: Paintings from the MCA Collection(which closes October 18th!) the panel consists of Artists Vera Klement and Wesley Kimler, Artletter.com's Paul Klein and exhibition curator Julie Rodrigues Widholm!

Stolen liberally from the MCA website:

This exhibition explores various approaches to painting and how it communicates ideas about life and art from the 1940s to the present. Arranged in a series of constellations, or groupings, the exhibition highlights for the first time the MCA Collection's particular strengths in this medium. Augmented by major works from important private collections to fill gaps in the MCA Collection and to provide examples of recent works made during the last few years, the exhibition includes work by approximately 75 of the most important artists of the last sixty years including Chuck Close, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Jasper Johns, Lari Pittman, Rudolf Stingel, Clare Rojas, Laura Owens, Josef Albers, Rene Magritte, Francis Bacon, Brice Marden, Caroll Dunham, Thomas Scheibitz, Jean Dubuffet, Sherrie Levine, Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland, Sigmar Polke, Rebecca Morris, Roberto Matta, and Yves Tanguy, among others. Featured Chicago artists include Angel Otero, Wesley Kimler, Kerry James Marshall, Judy Ledgerwood, Scott Reeder, Michelle Grabner, Marie Krane Bergman, and Vera Klement.

This exhibition explores questions about the current state and future of painting by creating a dialogue with works from the past. These conversations within each section stimulate ideas about painting that are not limited to chronology or specific art historical narratives, but follow lines of thought. Within the exhibition, the constellations aim to make connections through the various interests, positions, styles, and histories that artists address within their approach to painting. For example, Constellations explores approaches to the landscape and figure, so-called "bad" painting, appropriation and collage in painting, the critique of illusion in painting, form and color, and paintings that exist in-between representation and abstraction.

All of the works in this exhibition are united by the use of paint, a brush, and a support to emphasize the complex and varied manner in which artists use similar materials. This exhibition does not seek to redefine what can be considered a painting, but rather examines how it endures as a vibrant art form, more than 100 years after it was proclaimed "dead" at the advent of photography. Clearly there is no correct way, which is why painting continues to be a source of stimulating conversation and debate. From the perspective of the artist and viewer, painting is a subjective experience.

This exhibition is organized by Julie Rodrigues Widholm, Pamela Alper Associate Curator.

This week: Duncan and guest interviewer (who really does most of the interviewing while Duncan slumbers) Anna Kunz talk to artist and educator Jay Wolke! This entertaining and at times wacky interview is not to be missed. As you listen to this you can think to yourself; "I wonder what general zaniness was in the 10 minutes Richard chopped out of this show for the purposes of brevity and flow", but you can rest comfortable that most of it consisted of Anna giving Duncan a hard time.

Do not miss the longest, most unfocused and rant laden outro/credits in the history of the show, where Richard and Duncan are interrupted by Buses, the El, a panhandler, and Richard's spontaneous rant about a cop on a Segway smoking a cigarette. This spawns a discussion about the ascendancy of "douchebag" in the contemporary lexicon.

Wow. That is a lot of quality show!

Lifted shamelessly for somewhere else:

Jay Wolke is professor and chair of the department of art and design at Columbia College Chicago, and the author of All Around the House: Photographs of American-Jewish Communal Life. Dominic A. Pacyga is a professor at Columbia College Chicago, and the author and editor of numerous books on Chicago's history, including Polish Immigrants and Industrial Chicago and Chicago, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

This week Tom and Amanda talk to artist Helidon Gjergji!