Inside the glass-walled annex at the base of the Transamerica Pyramid, 16 gouache paintings by Syd Mead unfold like windows into an alternate tomorrow. The show, titled Future Pastime, opens a dialogue between the sleek silhouette of the pyramid itself and the vivid, speculative worlds Mead imagined decades ago.
Mead, who died in 2019, spent his career bridging art and industry, designing everything from concept cars to spacecraft interiors. He is best known for his work on films such as Star Trek, TRON and Blade Runner, but Future Pastime sets aside cinematic storyboards in favor of standalone paintings that feel more like personal manifestos. In these works, leisure is the order of the day: crowds watch races involving horses, boats, sleek automobiles and towering greyhound‑like robots; people gather for parties that span zero‑gravity lounges; and intergalactic whales glide alongside spacecraft as humanity’s industries have been relocated to the moon, giving Earth time to recover.
What gives Mead’s visions their enduring appeal is a rare combination of technical precision and painterly warmth. His brushstrokes are delicate yet deliberate, rendered with the exacting eye of an industrial designer, while his lighting channels the luminous palettes of Maxfield Parrish , soft oranges matched with purples, steely gray‑blues punctuated by zings of intense crimson. Wispy fabrics drape across nude figures with the same convincing realism as the shiny vans, motorcycles and concept cars that populate each scene, many of which were commissioned by automotive events or companies.
Despite the glossy surfaces and fantasy vehicles, the most compelling parts of the exhibition are often the backgrounds , vast, imaginative infrastructures that have yet to be built. Expansive transportation hubs, orbital habitats, and cityscapes that stretch beyond the frame serve as a reminder that a better future is not merely about flashy gadgets but about radical re‑imaginings of how we live, eat, work and play.
The curators, Elon Solo and William Corman, have organized the show with care, spacing the paintings so that ideas can breathe between frames. Temporary walls echo the zig‑zag windows of the annex, and the overall design by the architecture firm MAD keeps the space spare and orderly, walls sheathed in silvery aluminum that reflect the glowing hues of the paintings. Several objects Mead depicted , handheld computers, self‑driving cars, personal unicycles , have indeed become part of everyday life, underscoring how his foresight anticipated trends that have since materialized.
Future Pastime is on view at the Transamerica Pyramid Annex Gallery, 535 Washington Street, San Francisco, through December 17, 2026.