Originally Posted by
imnotalawyer
hotturnip where are you seeing the artists advertised in this manner? In the app, both artists are credited by their full names (first and last).
If you're nitpicking how they're referred to in this discussion, I think that
krazykanuck is on the money, it is a function of simplicity.
Kehinde Wiley
Julie Mehretu
Folks likely just dropped the uncommon piece of the respective full name because it is "easier". I don't think there's any malice in it (although I think some of the criticism concerning her design has been
very unfair).
Perhaps. I'm not accusing anyone of anything. However, this happens quite frequently in the professional world, in all areas. For example, in tennis sportscasters commonly refer to "Serena" instead of Williams, but it's nearly always "Djokovic" and "Federer." The only male tennis player that they regularly refer to by first name is Nadal ("Rafa"), and that's because he has a famous nickname. If you start paying attention, you'll notice it in many different professions. As the use of first names connotes familiarity and/or a degree of condescension (we speak to children using their first names, for example), I think it's worth it to go to the trouble to be consistent. And with artists, there are very few artists in history referred to by their first names--just Leonardo and Michelangelo and a handful of others. It doesn't matter how simple or difficult their names are. Nobody talks about "Pablo" or "Henri." You do sometimes hear "Andy" instead of Warhol, which presents another kind of issue.
Certainly this isn't an earth-shattering problem, but it's revealing. As I said originally, just think on it.
[Sorry to stray off topic--I'll say no more.]