Bob Dylan|Deep Focus (Film Scenes)

'Deep Focus' is where Dylan's painting turned from the landscapes of 'The Beaten Path' to figures, taking its subjects from moments in films.

The paintings were first seen in November 2021, at the Miami showing of 'Retrospectrum' and in a private showcase of nine works on London's New Bond Street. The title comes from a cinematography technique in which nothing is blurred out, so the story runs through the foreground, middle ground and background at once. Dylan put the source plainly: "All these images come from films. They try to highlight the different predicaments that people find themselves in."

From The Beaten Path

The settings carry over from 'The Beaten Path', Dylan's long-running paintings of American roads, motels and diners, which the new work extends. What changes is the cast. Figures move to the front, often in close, cropped compositions that borrow the framing of a camera shot, and the scenes are often described as sitting somewhere between life and theatre.

The four prints

The images chosen for print are 'Edge of Town', 'Hideaway Woman', 'Prize Fight' and 'Tango Dancers'. They were made in the UK on a flatbed printer, which gives a finish that echoes the brushstrokes of the paintings and keeps the colour strong, though the surface of each print is flat.