PSEUDONYM PROJECT / NYC PARIS

2014 | Various. Curated by Gabriel Jones.

Artist Gabriel Jones invited a series of emerging and established artists such as ROBERT BARRY, MELANIE BONAJO, CLAUDE CLOSKY, LIAM GILLICK, MATHIEU MERCIER, ARIANE MICHEL and JONATHAN MONK to create new art pieces under a pseudonym. The real names and real signatures are discretely disclosed at the closing of each reception. The exhibition traveled to New York, Paris and will be exhibited in London in 2016.

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Ever since Marcel Duchamp posed for Man Ray as Rrose Sélavy, artists have used the pseudonym as a form of anonymity that allows complete freedom of expression. Art has increasingly become a commodity and artists’ names are branded to their galleries and institutions. Name recognition as a means of branding has become an important aspect of art. The Pseudonym Project playfully destabilizes the viewers and challenges them to confront their own reading and evaluation of a piece of artwork without giving them the security of knowing the names and thus, the notoriety of the artist. Exhibition view at Galerie Michele Didier, Paris, 2014.