Arik Roper | Space & Time

Space and Time

Arik Roper
Opening January 9, 2026
Mortal Machine Gallery — New Orleans
940 + 938 Royal Street

Mortal Machine Gallery is proud to present Space and Time, an exhibition of work by Arik Roper, opening January 9, 2026, in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Featuring up to 30 works, Space and Time brings together a wide span of Roper’s visual universe of paintings and illustrations that traverse ancient landscapes, cosmic thresholds, deserts, forests, ruins, and mythic passages. These are images that feel excavated rather than illustrated, drawn from deep wells of mythology, nature, heavy music culture, and personal symbolism.

Arik Roper’s work occupies a rare space in contemporary visual culture. Widely recognized for his iconic album artwork and posters for bands such as High on Fire, Sleep, and others, Roper has helped define the visual language of modern heavy music. Yet his work extends far beyond that context. At its core, it is about endurance, solitude, ritual, and transformation of figures moving through vast environments shaped as much by time as by terrain.

This exhibition also marks a significant milestone for Mortal Machine Gallery.

Opening night on January 9 will serve as the grand opening of our expanded second location at 938 Royal Street, alongside the reopening of our newly remodeled showroom at 940 Royal Street. Together, these two adjacent spaces allow us to broaden our curatorial program, present more ambitious exhibitions, and deepen the experience of moving through the gallery. The expansion represents a natural evolution of Mortal Machine, one rooted in long term vision, artist relationships, and the belief that work like this deserves space to unfold.

Space and Time is both a reflection and a forward step: a meditation on endurance, scale, and myth, paired with a new chapter for the gallery itself.

We invite you to join us on January 9 to experience this exhibition across both spaces and to step into the worlds Arik Roper has been building for decades.

Opening Reception
January 9, 2026, 7-10PM
Mortal Machine Gallery
940 + 938 Royal Street
New Orleans, Louisiana

Arik will be in attendance