Bad at Sports Episode 971: Jean Alexander Frater, Matthew Girson & Dana DeGiulio at Material

What can eight small paintings tell us about the possibilities of an artist-run space? Duncan MacKenzie, joined midway by Jesse Malmed, speaks with Jean Alexander Frater, Matthew Girson, and Dana DeGiulio about a two-person exhibition at Material, Jean's artist-run project space in Chicago's Roscoe Village. Four paintings by Matthew and four by Dana are installed in an alternating sequence, setting up a conversation across the walls rather than dividing the gallery by artist.

Their discussion begins with the particular staying power of artist-run Chicago: Dana's work establishing Julius Caesar in 2008, Matthew's earlier project presenting artworks from the cab of a pickup truck, and Jean's decade of making room for other artists at Material. From there, the conversation turns to the peculiar ambitions of intimate paintings, each made within a day. Is choosing a familiar genre conservative? What happens when a painting leaves the studio and enters the social space of an exhibition? And what can an actual encounter with an object offer that a circulating image cannot?

The group follows those questions through care, constraint, repetition, touch, and hospitality—with Maggie Nelson, Agnes Martin, Nina Simone, and the art market making appearances along the way. If a painting cannot tell its viewer what to feel, perhaps it can begin a sentence someone else is free to finish.

Names Dropped:

Duncan MacKenzie - kurasmackenzie.com/

Jesse Malmed - jessemalmed.net/

Jean Alexander Frater - alexanderfrater.com/home.html

Matthew Girson - matthewgirson.com/

Dana DeGiulio - danadegiulio.com/

Agnes Martin - diaart.org/collection/artist-a-to-z/martin-agnes

Jackson Pollock - pkhouse.org/

Maggie Nelson - poetryfoundation.org/poets/maggie-nelson