Twenty years ago, a noted art writer lobbed a hand grenade at the smug world of contemporary art. In Has Modernism Failed?, Suzi Gablik castigated a culture in which total submission to "the big, powerful machine" of the art market replaced the artist's independent moral authority. Modern art broke the old rules, creating subversive work intended to shock the viewer into a new way of seeing. But consumer culture eventually co-opted shock value. In Gablik's view, successful artists of the 1970s and early '80s traded their autonomy for the money and security of "institutionalized individuality" offered by aggressive art dealers and museums increasingly reliant on corporate support. Gablik argued that by losing its last vestige of belief in spiritual values, art also lost touch with society as a whole. While praising the "spiritual dignity" of work by Anselm Kiefer and Josef Beuys, she viewed spiritual imagery in neo-expressionist paintings with suspicion. How could artists who didn't actively believe in this imagery invest it with mythical power? In the revised edition of her book---which includes two new chapters---Gablik revisits the issue of moral vision in art. She divides the post-9/11 art world into artists whose work promotes the materialism of Western culture and those few who have found a "socially redeeming purpose" for art. Most controversially, she proposes that "the truly significant product of an artist is his life." Her highest praise goes to artists whose work consists of social service projects, whether attempting to feed the hungry or restore damaged ecosystems. Worthy as these projects may be, Gablik's failure to address the aesthetic component of art undermines her views. Her writing can be repetitive, and her arguments, too narrowly focused. But her passion, fearlessness and inclusion of the diverse viewpoints of artists, critics, dealers and others make her book compelling reading. —-Cathy Curtis

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