Joshua Decter
@joshuadecter.bsky.social
Writer, curator, art historian
Updated thoughts on Sotheby’s auction house as museum simulacrum.
November 16, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Updated thoughts on Sotheby’s auction house as museum simulacrum.
I suppose it’s better than the Breuer Building becoming an Apple Store or a Vuitton shop, but I grew up with the Whitney Museum at the Breuer, and it’s just a bit weird to see an auction house attempting to simulate a museum.
Or, perhaps it’s the final evolutionary stage of museums.
🤷🏻♂️
Or, perhaps it’s the final evolutionary stage of museums.
🤷🏻♂️
November 12, 2025 at 1:21 AM
I suppose it’s better than the Breuer Building becoming an Apple Store or a Vuitton shop, but I grew up with the Whitney Museum at the Breuer, and it’s just a bit weird to see an auction house attempting to simulate a museum.
Or, perhaps it’s the final evolutionary stage of museums.
🤷🏻♂️
Or, perhaps it’s the final evolutionary stage of museums.
🤷🏻♂️
Trump has redecorated the Oval Office in the White House with lots of gold, various kitschy baubles, and some different paintings. Sort of resembles Liberace’s bedroom in Las Vegas.
So I added a portrait of a political figure who has been very influential for Trump.
🤷🏻♂️
So I added a portrait of a political figure who has been very influential for Trump.
🤷🏻♂️
August 24, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Trump has redecorated the Oval Office in the White House with lots of gold, various kitschy baubles, and some different paintings. Sort of resembles Liberace’s bedroom in Las Vegas.
So I added a portrait of a political figure who has been very influential for Trump.
🤷🏻♂️
So I added a portrait of a political figure who has been very influential for Trump.
🤷🏻♂️
Trump is seeking to translate his paranoid conspiracy theories about voter fraud into law. The objective is to make it increasingly difficult for people to vote, which inevitably benefits the Republican Party.
This is a pernicious assault on democracy that must be rejected by the Supreme Court.
This is a pernicious assault on democracy that must be rejected by the Supreme Court.
August 18, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Trump is seeking to translate his paranoid conspiracy theories about voter fraud into law. The objective is to make it increasingly difficult for people to vote, which inevitably benefits the Republican Party.
This is a pernicious assault on democracy that must be rejected by the Supreme Court.
This is a pernicious assault on democracy that must be rejected by the Supreme Court.
It’s not true.
But anything is possible these days.
But anything is possible these days.
August 16, 2025 at 12:02 PM
It’s not true.
But anything is possible these days.
But anything is possible these days.
Apologies for the offensive word, but am I wrong?
August 16, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Apologies for the offensive word, but am I wrong?
Sometimes I wonder…
August 3, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Sometimes I wonder…
I have seen many amazing one-person gallery shows since the 1980s (and the 1970s as a kid) that did not have a ‘curator.’
Now it seems as if it is mandatory for one-person gallery shows to have a curator.
I think that the best one-person gallery shows are ‘curated’ by the artists themselves.
😇
Now it seems as if it is mandatory for one-person gallery shows to have a curator.
I think that the best one-person gallery shows are ‘curated’ by the artists themselves.
😇
July 10, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I have seen many amazing one-person gallery shows since the 1980s (and the 1970s as a kid) that did not have a ‘curator.’
Now it seems as if it is mandatory for one-person gallery shows to have a curator.
I think that the best one-person gallery shows are ‘curated’ by the artists themselves.
😇
Now it seems as if it is mandatory for one-person gallery shows to have a curator.
I think that the best one-person gallery shows are ‘curated’ by the artists themselves.
😇
New art fair dropped today.
😘
(I just realized that Basel and Blasé are basically the same word)
😘
(I just realized that Basel and Blasé are basically the same word)
June 17, 2025 at 3:45 PM
New art fair dropped today.
😘
(I just realized that Basel and Blasé are basically the same word)
😘
(I just realized that Basel and Blasé are basically the same word)
I added some text to this image.
RIP Pope Francis.
(I think “they” is an appropriate pronoun for God… since people believe in different Gods, and so there are also multiple, various, plural versions of God… God’s ‘identity’ is complex)
Original photograph copyright Vatican Media/AP
RIP Pope Francis.
(I think “they” is an appropriate pronoun for God… since people believe in different Gods, and so there are also multiple, various, plural versions of God… God’s ‘identity’ is complex)
Original photograph copyright Vatican Media/AP
April 21, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I added some text to this image.
RIP Pope Francis.
(I think “they” is an appropriate pronoun for God… since people believe in different Gods, and so there are also multiple, various, plural versions of God… God’s ‘identity’ is complex)
Original photograph copyright Vatican Media/AP
RIP Pope Francis.
(I think “they” is an appropriate pronoun for God… since people believe in different Gods, and so there are also multiple, various, plural versions of God… God’s ‘identity’ is complex)
Original photograph copyright Vatican Media/AP
That’s what needs to be resurrected…
April 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
That’s what needs to be resurrected…
Not far from the truth.
April 19, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Not far from the truth.
This just occurred to me.
😅
😅
April 18, 2025 at 8:07 PM
This just occurred to me.
😅
😅
Donald Antoinette
(I added something to this film still of Sofia Coppola’s 2006 ‘Marie Antoinette’)
(I added something to this film still of Sofia Coppola’s 2006 ‘Marie Antoinette’)
April 2, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Donald Antoinette
(I added something to this film still of Sofia Coppola’s 2006 ‘Marie Antoinette’)
(I added something to this film still of Sofia Coppola’s 2006 ‘Marie Antoinette’)
April Fool’s Day is not quite the same since there is no longer any rational consensus about what constitutes a “fact.”
🙃
🙃
April 1, 2025 at 3:00 PM
April Fool’s Day is not quite the same since there is no longer any rational consensus about what constitutes a “fact.”
🙃
🙃
31 years ago when I was 31.
🤦🏻♂️
🤦🏻♂️
March 13, 2025 at 11:34 PM
31 years ago when I was 31.
🤦🏻♂️
🤦🏻♂️
Corrupt transparency.
🫡
🫡
March 10, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Corrupt transparency.
🫡
🫡
Finally figured it out.
🙃
🙃
March 10, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Finally figured it out.
🙃
🙃
