Retro Futuristic Art

Retro Futurism Futurism

Art that took a unique glimpse into yesterday’s tomorrow. -By Eddie Walker Retro futurism is an art movement that was at its popularity in the 1950’s. This genre of art originates from past decades that predicts how the future will look, operate, and evolve. Speculations depicted in retro futurism include future technology, fashion, economic development, and space exploration. As artist Bruce Mccalls says, “retro futurism is looking to see how yesterday viewed tomorrow.” Retro futurism was a major influence on the Art Deco movement, it was conceived in the 1920’s and flourished well into the 1930’s. Read on to travel back to the future’s past and explore the visionaries behind the genre that still inspires artists today.

“What lies Beyond” By Robert Mccall

Artist: Boris Artzybasheff Title: “Executive of the Future” Description: Boris is known for his whimsical and surrealist designs that were often used on book covers and movie posters. Artzybasdheff’s work has been featured on the cover of dozens of books, including works by Marcel Proust and James Joyce. In addition to his book covers, he designed and illustrated a cover for time magazine and even wrote and illustrated his own book “As I see.”

Artist: Charles Schridde Title: “House of the future”

Description: In 1962, Motorola contracted artist Charles Schridde to paint a series depicting a “Motorola Future.” Schridde imagined these dreamy homes with striking angular architecture, happy families, and of course, the newest Motorola technology.

Artist: Robert Mccall

Title: Metropolis 2050 #4 Description: Robert Mccall was born in 1919 in Ohio, he attended the Art Center College of Design in the 1940’s. Mccall’s art was heavily influenced by science fiction & space exploration. His art has been featured in movies, murals, & posters for NASA. He even painted the official poster for the 1969 Moon Landing.

Sci-fi artist: Syd Mead

Syd Mead is a legendary artist who helped shape the sci-fi world. His work can be seen in movies like Blade Runner, Tron, and Aliens, as well as video games like Sid Meier’s Civilization IV. Mead was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1933. He studied at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, and graduated with a degree in industrial design. After graduation, he worked General Motors where he designed cars for them until 1965 when he decided to focus on his own work full-time. Mead’s first major project was concept art for Blade Runner (1982).

The success of this project led him to work on other science fiction films such as Tron (1982), Aliens (1986), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), & Mission Impossible.

While these are just some of his many projects, they serve as examples of the impact he has had on cyberpunk, sci-fi, retro futurisct art and design over the years.