A major exhibition of self-proclaimed communist artist Alice Neel is currently on show at the Barbican Centre in London. Neel’s politically conscious portraits brilliantly bring to life the hidden history of the American working class and oppressed.

As the class struggle erupts across the world, workers’ anger towards capitalism and the bosses is increasingly finding a reflection in mainstream films and TV. But only freed from the shackles of profit can culture and creativity truly thrive.

In recent months, investors have poured money into NFTs – ‘non-fungible tokens’ – and other speculative digital assets. This is a symptom of the sickness of capitalism, and of how corrupted and commodified art has become under the profit system.