It's still true if you enlarge your conception of decoration a bit. For the most part, curated art shows exist as 'life adornment' for the privileged. Bask in the glow of talented or beautiful people, chew on a few radical ideas, but above all go to amazing parties.
The artists that I respect try hard to subvert that system or exist outside it. They produce street art, ephemeral or illegal installations, billboard liberations, surreal events, art that is miles and miles away from populated places, things that aren't obviously art but look more like technology, and so on. I think my favorite art-thing of the past decade was Swoon's Swimming Cities, where she lashed together boats made of artfully arranged junk and floated down rivers with a motley crew of performers.
Of course this kind of art can be commoditized too, but it's more resistant.
The artists that I respect try hard to subvert that system or exist outside it. They produce street art, ephemeral or illegal installations, billboard liberations, surreal events, art that is miles and miles away from populated places, things that aren't obviously art but look more like technology, and so on. I think my favorite art-thing of the past decade was Swoon's Swimming Cities, where she lashed together boats made of artfully arranged junk and floated down rivers with a motley crew of performers.
Of course this kind of art can be commoditized too, but it's more resistant.