it is mistaken to speak of the failure of
Does the following sentence want to say "it is wrong to say that avantgarde did not succeed in destroying the institutional mechanisms of art, because neo-avant-garde (the new form of avangarde) is still seeking to deconstruct the boundaries of the institutional mechanisms of art (the fight in still going on) and it has been more or less successful too"?

Sentence:

Hal Foster suggests that it is mistaken to speak of the failure of the avantgarde to destroy the institutional mechanisms of art, seeing the neo-avant-garde as, more realistically and more successfully, seeking to deconstruct its boundaries.

Question

it is mistaken to speak of the failure of
Does the following sentence want to say "it is wrong to say that avantgarde did not succeed in destroying the institutional mechanisms of art, because neo-avant-garde (the new form of avangarde) is still seeking to deconstruct the boundaries of the  institutional mechanisms of art (the fight in still going on) and it has been more or less successful too"?

Sentence:

Hal Foster suggests that it is mistaken to speak of the failure of the avantgarde to destroy the institutional mechanisms of art, seeing the neo-avant-garde as, more realistically and more successfully, seeking to deconstruct its boundaries.

Answer

Thank you Sekar!

Answer

Hey pineapple, what a nasty sentence that is! Art historians really have a way of putting things.. I think, however, that your understanding of the sentence is correct. Neo-avant-garde is succesfully challenging the boundaries of the institutionalised artworld. As neo-avant-garde is still part of an overarching concept of avant-garde, the avant-garde as a whole has thus succeeded to deconstruct said boundaries by the merits of the neo-avant-garde. If you ever need help in the future: I'm an art history graduate specialised in modern and contemporary art. Well done!