How Bob Dylan Constructed His Visual Artist Identity

Robert Zimmer, known professionally as Bob Dylan, was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is recognized globally for his poetic music and the promotion of his paintings since the 1960s. However, his identity as a painter is far less established than his identity as a musician, as it relies more on marketing than on professionalism. A review of art world theories and related materials reveals that Dylan depended on marketing through biographies, galleries, and mass media before 2016, a practice that raised inquiries concerning plagiarism and professionalism. After 2016, Dylan redirected his marketing efforts toward establishing a correlation between music and painting, a strategy that achieved considerable success. Through a case study of Dylan’s official art website, the paper utilizes visual semiotics, and reveals his construction of a calm, meditating, and sharp artist identity. Nevertheless, the visual art identity of geography remains tethered to the auditory art identity, and the “other side” persists in its perception as “this side.”