Pseudonyms, Pen Names, and Aliases for Artists

Promoting your art under a pseudonym: what do yous need to know?

Ever heard of Michelangelo Merisi, Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, Dominikos Theotokòpulos, Moishe Shagal, or Marcus Rothkowitz?

pseudonym art history

These names may non mean a lot to you, but they might if we told you lot the names these men are more commonly known by: Caravaggio, Donatello, El Greco, Marc Chagall, and Mark Rothko.

Working under a pseudonym is a large decision for an artist, and one that shouldn't be made lightly. One time you make your determination, you demand to stick with information technology. Irresolute your name multiple times across your career can greatly hurt your marketability as an creative person. Long-time fans might non know who you lot are anymore, older collectors won't be able to find y'all, and you will lose the advisedly created reputation you have earned. Make sure you have considered all factors before making your decision.

Why should yous work under a pseudonym?

Common and Disruptive Birth Names

I of the near common reasons to work under a pseudonym is if your name is either too mutual or too confusing. For example, Pablo Picasso might not have had such a memorable name if he went by Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso.

How to detect out if your name is too mutual

Practice an internet search of your name. Look on Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Search for your name and close spellings of your proper name. Search for your proper noun + "artist."

Artist Nilo Awakenings 5, Digital Artwork on Canvas
Artist Nilo Awakenings 5, Digital Artwork on Sail
  • Are there more than 10 other people with your name?
  • Is in that location another professional creative person with your name?
  • Is there somebody with your name who is famous in some other mode?

If the answer to any of these questions is "yep" then you should strongly consider using an alias. Even if they aren't artists, anybody else with your name is your contest: they'll all make information technology harder for people to observe you online.

For case, let'due south look at the mutual "John Smith." When y'all type in "John Smith art" into Google, you get over 288,000,000 results. Needless to say, that's quite a few John Smiths that potential customers are going to take to feed through in order to find the correct creative person – you!

How to decide if your name is "confusing"

This can't be learned through a Google search, only you should already have a adept idea of it. How often do people ask you to spell your name? How oft exercise people mispronounce your proper noun? How long is your name? 6 syllables should likely be the maximum.

As well consider the marketplace you lot are in. If you lot are planning on marketing your piece of work in a new country, consider the language restraints of the native speakers. Some languages don't employ the same pronunciations of certain messages, and then attempt to get in contact with somebody from that country and ask them whether your name will be understandable to the general public.

Don't feel similar y'all have to hide your heritage. You don't need to white-wash your name to appease your audience: just encounter if in that location are some simplifications you can do to brand your proper noun more accessible. See what yous can do to make your name less confusing without losing your identity.

Personal Life Conflicts

Privacy

Some artists are very open about their personal life. They'll share every concluding item of their personal biography to anyone who asks. However, other artists adopt to remain a little more than anonymous. A pseudonym volition allow you to create a level of separation between your personal life and your professional life as an artist.

Legality

Many street artists or artists who create very controversial pieces will work under a pseudonym. The fine art earth isn't all white wine and fancy parties; some artists are arrested for the work they practise.

Multiple Professions

If you lot have a professional person career other than your fine art, then you may want to consider using ii separate names. For example, if you lot are a physician, you may desire to keep your given name for your medical do and use a new name for your artwork. Otherwise, your 2 businesses may conflict with each other: when people are looking for your medical do they may not find it if all of the internet results are about your artwork and vice versa.

Marketing Advantages

Create a new identity

A pseudonym tin exist a good opportunity to reinvent yourself. Building a captivating new persona requires communicating a clear sense of your identity as an artist. A new or contradistinct name can be powerful in redefining your narrative and establishing what you represent.

Alexandre Ouiary took this to a new level when he pretended to be Chinese for over a decade, creating artwork with an "oriental" theme nether the name Tao Hongjing. His thought process made sense, in a manner: he knew he wanted to suspension into the Asian art marketplace and that collectors would not purchase Chinese artwork from a French artist. However, the publicity that resulted when his hoax was exposed was very negative, and he likely will not be able to continue working under that proper name.

Remove whatsoever identity

Sometimes, nonetheless, an identity tin interferewith some artists' messages. Ethnicity, national background, and fifty-fifty gender can sometimes create preconceptions that alter how your viewers see your work. If you lot would prefer for your proper name to be androgynous, take a cue from famed authors J.K. Rowling or Harper Lee (real names Joanne Rowling and Nelle Harper Lee), who used slightly altered versions of their truthful names to keep from beingness gender-identifiable and keep their piece of work from being influenced by gender stereotypes.

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Rebranding

If you are nigh to start an entirely new mode of artwork, if you lot've recently come into bad press, or if you're virtually to begin a collaboration, you may want to utilise a pseudonym to "rebrand" yourself as an artist. Many huge companies accept undergone a name change: Google used to be called BackRub, Pepsi used to be called Brad's Potable, and the Television station ABC Family will soon be changing their name to Freeform to concenter an older audience.

Exist careful when you are rebranding. Option a name that "goes" with your new style of artwork. For example, the musician Snoop Dogg uses the pseudonym Snoop Lion when releasing reggae albums, and David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" persona was intended to appear otherworldly.

What are the possible disadvantages of using a pseudonym for your art?

If you lot are already established as an artist, information technology tin exist a bad idea to brainstorm working under a new proper noun. You lot volition misfile your followers and possibly lose your audience's loyalty.

Creating an artist name can also exist addictive. One time people realize they can "change" their proper name, they tend to go overboard, switching upward regularly and several times. You cannot build a consistent following if you keep changing your name, as you will lose out on the power of referrals and name recognition. If you do create a new artist name, commit.

Having an artist proper name can cause some confusion in your personal life. Close friends and family may not consistently recollect or respect your "new" name. Exist clear with them that you are using your new name to promote your artwork, and enquire for them to remember to refer to you by your pseudonym whenever speaking to new people about your artwork.

Sometimes, creating a new proper noun tin atomic number 82 to some embarrassing mix-ups. For example, the Nokia Lumia translates in Castilian to "prostitute." Simply be careful when getting creative about what your new proper noun could mean, and do some enquiry earlier you publish it anywhere!

How to Create an Artist Name/Pseudonym

If you've decided that yous demand to promote your artwork under a pseudonym, deciding on your new name will be a difficult and scary task. Here are some simple strategies to create your art alias:

1. Add an initial

If your name is John Smith and yous're looking to get-go off your career equally an artist you tin differentiate yourself from the hundreds of other John Smiths out there with a simple extra initial or 2: "John P. K. Smith" or "G. John Smith" can brand a world of difference and won't actually change your name likewise much.

2. Combine your names

Many of our artists, like painter DAVO, have opted for this route to make their names shorter or easier to remember. Shortening your name tin create a singled-out, memorable aura around yourself and your art. It becomes an piece of cake and quick to disseminate moniker, something tricky, indelible and straightforward. "John Smith" tin can get "Jomith" or "Smithon."

3. Employ a different part of your proper name

Maybe your middle proper name or maiden name are more 'interesting' than your current first and last name. Some of our artists just employ variations of their outset or last proper noun to promote their works, similar Mando and Goodash.

4. Play with words and translations

Agora artist Tony Svensson publishes his photography under the name "Artura Photo Fine art" with "Artura" beingness a combination of the words "art" and "nature" – the perfect name for his botanical-centric pieces.

v. Remove some syllables

WhenMark Rothko changed his name out of fear of antisemitism, he simply dropped the "u.s." and "witz" from Markus Rothkowitz. Whether yous're changing your name to remove cultural associations, or if you lot think it's only too long for your audience, come across what interesting things tin can happen when you driblet a few syllables and change nix else!

6. Think about what style of work you are creating and who your audition is

Although something similar "Plumpy Pumpernickel" is definitely memorable and eye-communicable, information technology doesn't wait serious or legitimate on an exhibition poster. "Plumpy" might exist an appropriate name for a satirical creative person or children's illustrator, information technology won't work then well for a professional person portraiture artist.

Once you've come up up with a name you're happy with, "exam drive" it for a few weeks. Say information technology out loud, tell some trusted close friends. Practice a signature. If you like information technology after a few weeks, go far official. Kickoff signing your artworks, publish your website with your new creative person proper noun, create social media pages, and tell your friends and family.

Do you lot have any questions for the art experts? Comment below or electronic mail us at blogs@agora-gallery.com

With over 30 years of experience, Agora Gallery offers artists the opportunity to present their piece of work to a broad range of national and international art collectors and buyers. Looking for an opportunity to enhance your career? Visit our Gallery Representation And Artist Promotion folio for more data.

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