Satellite Collective Volume II
A dynamic exhibition by Satellite Collective, transforming Mriya Gallery into a multidisciplinary art space. Experience new works by Kevin Draper and Lora Robertson, including large-scale prints, photography, and sculpture.
With Respect To The Killer In My Heart
Draper’s conception of space is never far from motion and structures that shape it. With Respect To The Killer In My Heart features a mechanized sculpture, building structures, and evidentiary photographs integrated in the crafting of his Brutalist narrative. Dominant Landscape 1 and 2 are large abstract landscapes, hand printed on fabric up to twenty-two feet long which run the length of the gallery and show the passing of time through textures of urban decay, motion, and sudden stops. Delta, a handcrafted superbike, is a mechanical expression of the American id in aluminum. Figure A and Figure B, a set of sculptural figures with internally visible video and a soundtrack by Stelth Ulvang of The Lumineers, is a vision of dissolving in concert. Scans of a Bomb Site is a series of manipulated photographic works that catch pieces of the human body, toys, animals and, seemingly, the tragic scattered objects of a bombing site. The objects and images create a sense of perpetual transformation at speed. “I am focused on the breakdown of Modernism as a language. Brutalism has emerged as the style of the past that fits best now.” says Draper. “These pieces are from a distressingly near future dominated by force.”
The American Yes
From deep inside the practice of a long-held studio discipline, Robertson creates a staged allegory, addressing the injustice all around us. “The American Yes”, features large format photography printed on aluminum sheets with a dye-sublimation process. The images demonstrate austere still lives and self portraiture, the spare elements taking on importance with careful composition, precise lighting design, and deliberate in-camera choices. “Maiden | Mother | Crone” is a series of nine sand cast bronze pelvises, female and life sized, and use the traditional foundry method. Together, these photographs and sculptures bring notice to liberation from the motives of larger forces. “I’ve built the slow demolition of a Molotov cocktail, the weapon of necessity for grassroots resistance,” says Robertson. “I channel Hunter S. Thompson, shooting at bottles while pressing the shutter.”
About Kevin Draper
Kevin Draper (b. 1967, Maple City, MI) is an architect, sculptor, and technologist who captures the unexpected momentum of the creative process. Themes of time as distance covered, disjuncture, motion, and formal systems versus internal reality are seen throughout his work.
After a After a few years working as a mechanical engineer and artist, Draper completed a Masters in Architecture at the University of Michigan, studied art at Tulane University, and earned an Executive MBA at Notre Dame. In 2010 he moved to New York City. There, Draper founded Satellite Collective, a vibrant and innovative community of creatives that has produced award-winning theater productions, films, music recitals, dance performances, and multimedia exhibits.
His most recent show, The Cartoon Before the Movie was at Mriya Gallery, Tribeca, New York, May, 2024, and Draper’s films showed at CANADA gallery, Tribeca, New York, August, 2024.
Draper’s work has appeared at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Brooklyn Academy of Art, and 92NY. His Sad Blimp commission flew at Rosa Parks Circle, Grand Rapids, Michigan and the Gerald R.Ford Presidential Museum. Draper’s worked has anchored several performances at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and earned Draper and Satellite Collective Citations for Achievement In The Arts from the Borough of Brookly and Mayor Eric Adams.
Draper's connection to the themes of the show is personal. "I grew up in rural America where religion and guns are woven into the fabric of life. I saw SWAT teams flushing extremists out with helicopter squadrons when they killed a policeman or something like that and it seemed normal. We just seem to understand a certain number of us Americans are killers. It can be found in our hearts," he said. "This show examines something frightening about it, which is that in America the violence is fast becoming an attribute of beauty."
About Lora Robertson
Lora Robertson (b. 1971, Ann Arbor, MI) is a Leica Master Photographer and a filmmaker known for her large scale works in color. As Executive Director of Satellite Collective in New York, she is an advocate for women to stand in their own power and is committed to the retelling of classic story forms from the perspective of female characters, putting their voices forward as flawed heroes. Bringing the discipline of fifteen years of commercial advertising experience into her fine art projects, she uses very little digital manipulation, but instead is devoted to studio lighting, set design and the power of in-camera processes.
Lora also believes in taking technical and creative risks which might break these comfortable habits, always from a place of hard work and forward motion. Recent shows include, “Agony In The Scrub Pines” at Mriya Gallery and “Summer Blockbusterz” at Canada Gallery, both in 2024. Her work has appeared at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Open Source Gallery, and 92NY, with public commissions in Michigan at The Grand Rapids Art Museum, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Rosa Parks Circle, The Gerald R. Ford Museum, SiTE:LAB, and Fountain Street Church which was awarded recognition from the ACLU. She will take on a muse but only if bets are lost.
