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 within wider systems - such as unspoken codes of conduct, cultural gatekeeping, and inherited access - the Primo and Payne Great Art Explained podcast reframes some of history’s greatest art as a question of class rather than merit alone.

Primo and Payne: Great Art Explained

Instagram: www.instagram.com/primoandpayne

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@PrimoandPayne

Web: www.primoandpayne.com

James Payne:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/greatartexplained

Threads: www.threads.com/@greatartexplained

YouTube: @GreatArtExplained

Web: www.greatartexplained.com

Book: www.thamesandhudson.com/products/great-art-explained

Leslie Primo:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/artfirstprimo

Web: www.leslieprimo.co.uk

Threads: www.threads.com/@artfirstprimo

Book: www.thamesandhudson.com/products/the-foreign-invention-of-british-art

🎥 Frédérique Cifuentes