Carmel artist Simon Bull pays homage to cinematic car chases with his new exhibit.

If cars have always proven rich cinematic fodder, car chases are gourmet feasts capable of delivering some of cinema’s most memorable moments. Movies are tailor-made to capture the rapid, powerful movements of sleekly engineered automobiles whipping through cities and landscapes, while cars themselves connote freedom, romance and modernity – making them ideal vehicles for cinematic storytelling.

But as artist Simon Bull notes, absent of motion, photos and film stills of cinema’s greatest cars and car chases fail to capture their kinetic glory. Painting, however, can bring their energy to life using color, texture, space, shape and line – recapturing what makes them special on screen while adding the artist’s own perspective.

That’s all borne out in Bull’s new exhibit, Great Car Chases of the Silver Screen, which runs through Aug. 20 at Bull’s home gallery, Meuse in Carmel, in synergy with Car Week. The show features eight paintings inspired by cinematic car chases both legendary (Bullitt’s iconic joust through the streets of San Francisco) and contemporary (the latest James Bond film No Time to Die and its pursuit through the old stone alleys of southern Italy).

Bull has long been involved with Car Week, from designing posters for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance to hosting events at Meuse for luxury car dealers. A car buff himself, Bull’s pink-and-teal-splattered Aston Martin Vantage – which mimics a cherry blossom-influenced abstract work of his – is a conspicuous sight around Carmel. “It’s funny because I like to keep a low profile in 99 percent of my life, but when I drive my pink Aston Martin, people go crazy,” he says.

The car chase theme arose from Bull’s desire to make things more interesting: “I think pictures of cars can be a little boring to be honest,” Bull says. “The idea of cars involved in a chase would be much more interesting to tell a story… to bring them to life in a way that a still from a movie couldn’t.”

Asked to choose his favorite car chase in a movie, the British-born artist has to go with Bond – opting for the contemporary No Time to Die, featuring a modern take on 007’s famed Aston Martin DB5. “It’s just very cool – going through gorgeous Italian landscapes with a beautiful woman at high speeds. What’s not to love?”

GREAT CAR CHASES OF THE SILVER SCREEN runs through Aug. 20. Meuse Gallery, southeast corner of Ocean Avenue and Monte Verde Street, Carmel. 622-3010, meusegallery.com