James Wagner 1940-2026

I love this image, of a plucky caterer, maybe family, working on some celebratory bunting tall vertical ladder resting on clothesline, clear Midwest September sky, the comfort of stars and stripes in a time and in a place (1936/WI) we imagine more innocent, white apron, rolled slacks, shirt sleeves

James Wagner, beloved New York art collector, has died at age 85. He and his husband, Barry Hoggard, were collectors and art aficionados well-known within the New York gallery world, having built a collection of over 1,500 works largely acquired from the Brooklyn art scene via their social circles.

There are a lot of people here whom we know only online, so I wanted to let everyone know that @jamesarthurwagner.bsky.social passed away on Sunday from cancer. He was in hospice at home. I wrote about his final day. jwhealth.us/update/2026/...

the best

the best

new shirt alert

We've finally won the war against woke

The Trump White House freaked out so much at the political disaster they created for themselves with Minnesota and other viral images of their roving, trigger happy crackdowns that they were forced to make their secret police force more secretive, but they’re still committing lawless abuses and…

Zero Art Fair, and the other really good work its founders, our friends, do, is a brilliant project, and Felix’s Salmon’s piece in Business Week should help give it more of the visibility it deserves, and also inspire similar initiatives anywhere art is appreciated www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnim...

Disenfranchisement is the name of the game. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/supreme...

This is what parliament would look like if the only people who could vote were most of the people who bear children, do most of the unpaid work and are most likely to experience male violence. And it is the party most supportive of trans people’s human rights.

Roman woman's remains found during Colchester hospital dig

Poop-encrusted chamber pots from the Roman Empire reveal oldest known human cases of Crypto parasite www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

one plane

detail of the floor tiles outside the entrance to our apartment (Chelsea, ,mid-30’s, Art Deco)

This is about a 32-year-old man who earns $200K a year and is now CONSIDERING moving out of the Bushwick co-housing space he shares with 17 roommates. I have so many questions. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Mother's Day by Dorianne Laux www.divasofverse.com/2020/10/moth...

Barry assembled last night’s dinner: an al dente Setaro ziti, with Eataly’s luscious sugo alla bolognese, prezzemolo and

Ted and Jane an excellent adventure

[1] This banning of social media, for minors, really irks me. It’s indicative that democracy is being usurped by tech barons. I know plenty of children less impressionable than journalists, for instance. Previously censorship was of the publication, now it’s of the people. The correct…

the mid-70’s Renault 5, with its glorious, enormous snap-back fabric sunroof and its tight, close-coupled, but extremely smooth suspension, was also a great favorite of mine classicsworld.co.uk/guides/renau...

Someone asked a bunch of kids what the first thing was that cane to mind when they thought about Trump. Their answers are priceless. Check out the video.

Piercing the Veil, 2025 because we need to be present as witnesses in these dark times. willing to pimp this piece out for an art show if needed. powerfully silent but forever watchful and can even see in the dark!

many of you know the work i do as an art/a/v/installation/computer/web tech but lesser known are my mending skills - its how my grandparents survived when they immigrated to this country. its sweet notes like this that make my day! to know i help extend the life of things, and the histories we carry

the French have always understood the automobile better than any other culture. specifically its utility for both the most modest parts of society and the grandest

#SouthAfrica Today a song scrolled down which reminded me of one of the most astounding theatrical experiences of my life. 1975 Cape Town Ipi 'N Tombi performance. Warriors dance with spears ending up pointed at the audience as the music stops. The message explicit; correct the wrong or else.

Ethan Shoshan is one of the most wonderful artists I have ever met I use the adjective both spontaneously and advisedly he is also a beautiful, generous, pretty great human being, a Mensch

very personal tabletop assistant

the Founding Fathers weren’t even agreed on whether the government of the new nation should even have an executive today, effectively its only government, its entire government, is executive the people have disappeared

‘White Female Mamdani’ Mayor of Seattle Caught Blowing Taxpayer Money on Personal Limousine: tinyurl.com/3n2k7jsv

the long gallery, as a light box, above and across from parlor as sleeping chamber, at 4 am, friends quietly dance together

the midnight grabber surprised by the parlor sleeper (who might as well also be described as ‘parlous’ sleeper)

"Christian Mason’s piece, composed for the Sinfonietta in 2008 and repeated now, entwines and enlaces a group of nine professional musicians with thirty-six volunteers playing harmonicas." ~ @disgwylfa.bsky.social on "In Time Entwined, In Space Enlaced," on 11 June with the London Sinfonietta

lovely

After federal troops forced a fugitive slave named Anthony Burns back into slavery in the 1850s, one Bostonian wrote, “we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists.” The abuse of power radicalizes people. We are seeing that now.

wow

actual kings get it early no one is king because they say they are king no one stays king because they insist they are king the job security, historically, can be pretty iffy

Charles extolling tolerance, executive restraint, interfaith understanding, decency, international peace......Half expect him to chant "No Kings" at any moment.

This discussion with @joshuasweitz.bsky.social and @samwang.bsky.social should be excellent! www.princeton.edu/events/2026/...

ok so I just learned that foxes live all over london and are very common. is this true? and if so, how do yall get any work done at all?

I’m fascinated by how obsessed Trump is with his ballroom but still unsure why he wants it so bad. There is definitely an untold story there that goes beyond him just wanting a larger event space.

interesting (to me at least) very unusually, today I’m wearing a T that is not black (maybe it’s a rich dark teal) and I notice that for the first time in days, my schedule doesn’t include any visitors