Visual pioneers

A new exhibition at London's Barbican Art Gallery celebrates the work of Alice Neel, an unconventional artist who painted those on the margins of society, writes Cath Pound.

Zanele Muholi creates powerful visual activism about queer life in South Africa. Precious Adesina talks to Muholi, and explores an extraordinary body of work.

Her painting of the late Breonna Taylor was hailed as groundbreaking, and artist Amy Sherald has blazed a trail with her portraits of black America. She talks to Precious Adesina.

From reading out a scroll taken from her vagina to rolling around in paint and raw meat, the US artist changed culture with her provocative performance pieces, writes Lillian Crawford.

Cornelia Parker uses explosives and steamrollers in her work – as a major exhibition opens in London, Kelly Grovier explores what's behind the artist's "violent transformations".

Five years before Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Theory of Colours, the English artist Mary Gartside published her own challenge to the ideas of Isaac Newton, writes Kelly Grovier.

In 1938, a Ukrainian-born grandmother created one of art's biggest shocks – but it was attributed to the US painter Jackson Pollock, writes Kelly Grovier.

The painter's satirical work has always blazed a trail – reclaiming cultural histories and identities. Precious Adesina talks to the artist – and explores an extraordinary career.