Has Modernism Failed?

Book excerpt: If 'Has Modernism Failed?' was critical and provocative, its readers also found it inspirational. Arguing for a renewed moral, social and spiritual dimension in art, Gablik pointed to some encouraging developments. Now, in this revised and expanded edition, Gablik assesses the state of contemporary art at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Though there is still a commodified modernist and postmodernist art world - a world for which Gablik’s trenchant analysis is as relevant as ever - there is a burgeoning commitment to socially relevant and spiritually informed art. In a new prologue and two new chapters, Gablik looks at the promises and the problems of globalization, and the attempts of artists to integrate the concerns of the environment and the world with their art.