ARTMargins Roundtable Critiques John Clark's 'The Asian Modern' Book

ARTMargins published a roundtable discussion on March 14, 2023, critically examining John Clark's book 'The Asian Modern.' The publication, which includes an introduction by Manila-based critic and curator Patrick Flores, presents a cross-Asian perspective through analysis of 30 artists from Southeast, East, and South Asia as well as Australia. Clark's work positions Asia as a critical framework for challenging Euro-American modernist narratives. Five art historians—Monica Juneja, Ming Tiampo, Nora Taylor, Gao Minglu, and Chaitanya Sambrani—were invited by ARTMargins editors to assess the book's methodological implications for global art history. Their responses evaluate both strengths and limitations of Clark's ambitious project. The roundtable appears in ARTMargins Volume 12, Issue 1, pages 8-25, with DOI 10.1162/artm_a_00335. Access requires a subscription through MIT Press.