Syd Mead painting Hypervan at Crimson Plaza, a chrome vehicle in a red-lit plaza, from the Future Pastime exhibition - San Francisco

Syd Mead’s “Future Pastime” Paintings Open at the Transamerica Pyramid Annex Gallery October 8

By Brian (Local SF Guide) · October 6, 2026

“Syd Mead: Future Pastime,” an exhibition of paintings by the industrial designer and artist behind the look of films including Blade Runner, Aliens and TRON, opens Thursday, October 8, 2026 at the Transamerica Pyramid Annex Gallery, 535 Washington Street. It runs through December 17.

What Is in the Show

The exhibition has 16 gouache paintings spanning Mead’s career, according to the San Francisco Examiner. Subjects include a dinner party with guests in steel suits, dogs racing above skyscrapers, and a drive through space. The official Syd Mead site credits the curation to Elon Solo and William Corman and the exhibition design to MAD Architects. The show debuted in New York in 2025.

Solo and Corman told the Examiner that “Mead’s future is neither dystopian nor abstract. It is lived-in, teeming with humanity.” Mead died in 2019. Estate Real founder John Gullixson told the Examiner the show brings Mead’s work back to San Francisco after 30 years.

Visiting

When: October 8 to December 17, 2026. Wednesday through Sunday, 11am to 6pm, per futurepastime.net.

Opening night: Thursday, October 8, from 6pm to 8pm, per the official Syd Mead account.

Where: Transamerica Pyramid Annex Gallery, 535 Washington Street, on the Pyramid block in the Financial District. Transamerica Redwood Park, the half-acre redwood grove beside the tower, is next door.

Cost: Free, according to the Examiner.

Mead on Screen at the Roxie

The Roxie Theater’s companion series, “The Future According to Syd Mead,” runs alongside the exhibition with six screenings: Blade Runner: The Final Cut on 35mm (Friday, October 23), THX 1138 on 35mm (Sunday, November 1), Aliens Special Edition (Friday, November 20), Johnny Mnemonic: In Black and White (Friday, November 27), Welcome II the Terrordome in a 4K restoration (Sunday, December 6) and TRON in a 4K restoration (Friday, December 11). Showtimes and prices are on each film’s page.

For more exhibitions running this fall, see our guide to things to do in San Francisco in October 2026.

Image: “Hypervan at Crimson Plaza” by Syd Mead, courtesy of Syd Mead: Future Pastime.