Primo and Payne: Great Art Explained

Latest episode

12 Jun 2026 · 39 min

L.S. Lowry Had a Secret Full-Time Job

In this episode, Leslie Primo and James Payne take on the controversial legacy of L.S. Lowry, the painter of industrial Britain whose matchstick figures, factory chimneys and grey Manchester streets have become instantly recognisable — and yet remain oddly sidelined by the art establishment. From his training under a French Impressionist to his lifelong secret day job, the conversation explores why Lowry was so often dismissed as a “Sunday painter”, why major galleries have been slow to embrace him, and why his paintings of Salford, Pendlebury and the working-class North continue to divide…

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Earlier episodes 5 most recent

1. 

   29 May 2026 · 36 min

   Faith Ringgold Had No Choice About Being Political

   Faith Ringgold made quilts, wrote children’s books, and became one of the most politically charged artists in American art. So, how did an artist who started her career with landscapes and flowers become a fierce critic of racism, sexism, war until her death aged 94?In this episode of Primo and Payne: Great Art Explained, James Payne and Leslie Primo take a deep dive into the life and works of Faith Ringgold, The Harlem Renaissance, and the ways race, class and the events of recent American social history intersected within the lifetime of this beloved children's author. Primo and Payne:…

2. 

   S1 · E4 · 15 May 2026 · 40 min

   David Hockney refused to disguise his working class accent

   Born in Bradford, UK, David Hockney never hid the parts of his identity that set him apart from his contemporaries - his accent, his sexuality, his manner of dress. His work frequently focuses on everyday pleasures, rather than grand historical or political themes, and he has consistently embraced new technologies, from Polaroids to iPads, reducing hierarchies between “high” and “low” culture. In this episode of Primo and Payne: Great Art Explained, Leslie Primo and James Payne are looking at how David Hockney navigated the social structures of postwar Britain, and what, of this background,…

3. 

   S1 · E3 · 1 May 2026 · 45 min

   Michelangelo Changed the Class of an Artist

   In this episode of Primo and Payne: Great Art Explained, James Payne and Leslie Primo take a deep dive into the life and works of Michelangelo. Michelangelo had a complex relationship with social class in Renaissance Italy. Born into a modestly well-off but declining Florentine family, he was acutely aware of status and often sought to elevate his own position to elevate his family name. Coming from the rough, manual labour of Renaissance artist workshops, he asserted his status as an artist grounded in individual genius, through his commissions for powerful patrons like the Medici and the…

4. 

   S1 · E2 · 17 Apr 2026 · 42 min

   J.M.W. Turner Was Pure Working Class

   J.M.W. Turner was pure working class. So, how does the son of a barber from Covent Garden become known as one of art history's greatest painters? Turner didn't sound like his contemporaries at the Royal Academy, he broke all the rules of traditional painting, and liked to stick his head out of moving train windows. 250 years after his birth, he's remembered as one of Britain's favourite artists. In this episode of Primo and Payne: Great Art Explained, James Payne and Leslie Primo take a deep dive into the life and works of J.M.W. Turner. Primo and Payne: Great Art Explained Instagram:…

5. 

   S1 · E1 · 17 Apr 2026 · 38 min

   The Art World Has a Class Problem

   We like to believe that, no matter your background, artistic talent will always rise to the surface. Yet we know that while creativity is universal, access, platforms, connections, money and time are not. These structural barriers for working class artists begin early and compound over time. In this podcast, James Payne and Leslie Primo combine lived experience with cultural analysis to unpack the role of class in Art. Through the lives and works of working-class artists, James and Leslie explore the conditions that shaped their careers and their legacies. By situating individual stories…

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