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Legendary visual futurist Syd Mead’s paintings will be showcased in a major exhibition, “Future Pastime,” running from March 28 to May 21 at the former Mitchell-Innes & Nash gallery space in Chelsea.

Long before the metaverse, Mead was crafting immersive future worlds that have shaped our collective imagination and became a defining force in science fiction cinema, designing iconic worlds. From the neon-drenched streets of Blade Runner (1982) to the sleek, geometric landscapes of Tron (1982), his influence on sci-fi films is undeniable. His designs also impacted Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) 2010 (1984), Aliens (1986), and many more. They even inspired Elon Musk’s Cybertruck.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1933, Mead was a visionary artist who redefined how we imagine the future. After serving in the U.S. Army, he studied at the Art Center School in Los Angeles, blending inspiration from classical masters like Caravaggio with the Space Age musings of Chesley Bonestell to...

Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek: The Original Series stuck to some clear rules that the war veteran had prescribed to make his vision of the future come to life. From the nature of professionalism among the crew to the logic in the Enterprise’s design, Roddenberry had a reason for everything and wanted his collaborators to stick to it.

The USS Enterprise, which is the primary setting of the original series, was designed by Matt Jefferies. The former aviation engineer and artist reportedly got the job due to his experience in the aviation industry and hit it off well with Roddenberry due to both of them fighting in World War II.

Gene Roddenberry had one specific instruction for Matt Jefferies while designing the USS Enterprise Gene Roddenberry | Credits: Paramount

Gene Roddenberry’s hopeful vision of the future included an almost militaristic discipline and commitment to space exploration and intergalactic diplomatic relations.

Gene Winfield, a pioneering legend in the hot-rod world who created custom cars for numerous films and TV shows including Blade Runner, the original Star Trek series, RoboCop, Get Smart! and many others, has died. He was 97.

He died March 4, according to his obit on Legacy.com. His Winfield Custom Shop had posted on Instagram late last month that he had cancer.

Winfield’s Galileo shuttlecraft from the original 1960s ‘Star Trek’ series

Winfield was known as “The King of Kustoms,” and his most famous creations include the iconic Galileo shuttlecraft and the Jupiter 8 for Star Trek — the latter seen in the episode “Bread and Circuses” — and the “spinners” for Blade Runner, which was nominated for the Special Effects Oscar. He also built the Catmobile for TV’s Batman and gadget cars for Get Smart! and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. during the Bond-fueled spy craze of the 1960s.

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"Star Trek" debuted in 1966, meaning audiences have been staring at the U.S.S. Enterprise for nearly 60 years. As such, it's hard to imagine the ship looking any differently than it does. The Enterprise is a flying saucer that sports a thin aft "neck" extension protruding from its underside. The "neck" then connects with a wide, cigar-shaped body that has an outsize satellite dish on the front. Protruding upward from the cigar body are two offset tube-like engines (called nacelles), held aloft from the ship by thin planks that stick out at 90-degree angles.

The design of the Enterprise isn't so much elegant as it is industrial. The sharp angles and spindly frame bring to mind shuttle-like efficiency more than gorgeous aesthetics. It wouldn't be until 1979, when the Enterprise was redesigned for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," that the ship...