The Blue of Distance — Madeline Rupard and Drew Rane
Material presents The Blue of Distance, A Duo Exhibition of Paintings by Madeline Rupard and Drew Rane
Material Gallery is pleased to present The Blue of Distance, a two-person exhibition by celebrated artists Madeline Rupard and Drew Rane, opening Friday, October 3, 2025. This exhibition takes the color blue as a point of departure and unifying reference for two artists who share an interest in the landscape, yet approach it in distinct ways.
The Blue of Distance brings together the work of Madeline Rupard and Drew Rane, two painters who turn to blue as both material and metaphor. For centuries, artists have used blue to signal distance, whether in the recessional haze of Renaissance landscapes or the endless expanse of Romantic skies. Here, blue becomes a visual device and a shared language through which Rupard and Rane approach the landscape from distinct yet resonant perspectives.
In writing the exhibition statement for their exhibition, Rupard and Rane reference Rebecca Solnit, who writes, "For many years, I have been moved by the blue at the far edge of what can be seen, that color of horizons, of remote mountain ranges, of anything far away. The color of that distance is the color of an emotion, the color of solitude and of desire, the color of there seen from here, the color of where you are not. And the color of where you can never go. For the blue is not in the place those miles away at the horizon, but in the atmospheric distance between you and the mountains. 'Longing,' says the poet Robert Hass, 'because desire is full of endless distances.' Blue is the color of longing for the distances you never arrive in, for the blue world.”
It is this atmosphere of distance and longing that animates the exhibition. Rupard's paintings trace the American landscape through the lens of motion—skies glimpsed from highways, moments where the suburban and the sublime collide, and the shifting surfaces of memory made visible through color. Rane, by contrast, constructs distance through ambiguity, layering paint and image to reveal and withhold, creating pauses that invite slowing down and contemplation. Where Rupard's work evokes the fleeting passage through space, Rane's suspends the viewer in the uncertainty of what lies just beyond clarity.
Together, their work embodies the paradox of blue itself: at once intimate and unreachable, rooted in the here-and-now yet always pointing toward the horizon. The Blue of Distance offers viewers a meditation on longing, memory, and perception—where the spaces between are as charged and meaningful as the destinations we can never quite reach. Together, their works dwell in the longing, solitude, and mystery of distance, echoing blue's enduring role as both pigment and metaphor.
Material co-founder Jorge Rojas shares:
"We are honored to present this exhibition of Rupard's and Rane's work. We have followed their careers with great admiration and are thrilled they have accepted our invitation to show together at Material. Both artists are, in every sense, painters' painters—rooted in the long tradition of landscape painting while bringing to it experimental approaches that feel fresh, dynamic, and deeply contemporary. We’re excited to share their work with our community as individual voices and in dialogue with one another."
Events
Material will host an opening reception for Madeline Rupard and Drew Rane on Friday, October 3, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., preceded by an artist talk from 5:30 to 6:00 p.m.
The exhibition will also be open for viewing on:
Friday, October 17, 6:00–8:00 p.m., as part of Salt Lake City's Gallery Stroll
Friday, November 21, 6:00–8:00 p.m., during the closing reception
By appointment
About the Artists
Madeline Rupard is an artist and educator happily torn between the East Coast and American West. She was born in Provo, Utah, raised in Maryland and Georgia, and moved back recently to Utah from New York, her home of five years. She received an MFA in Painting ('19) from Pratt Institute and a BFA in Studio Art ('16) from BYU, where she returned as an Assistant Professor of painting in 2024. She has attended the Vermont Studio Center Residency as well as the Ora Lerman Soaring Gardens
Residency in Pennsylvania. Last year she published her first book consisting of paintings and text “Passages” with Slow Worm Press and participated in the I Never Read Art Book Fair, Art Basel 2025. Her work has also appeared in Booooooom, New American Paintings, and at Lorin Gallery in Los Angeles, Black Paper Gallery in Somerset, UK, and Room 57 Gallery in New York.
Drew Rane (b. 1991, Connecticut) is a New York City–based artist working primarily in painting and photography. He earned a BFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2016. Rane’s work explores the tension between clarity and obscurity, often using layered materials and selective focus to obscure parts of the image and introduce ambiguity. Rooted in the concept of separation, his practice reflects a sustained interest in the spaces between what is seen and what is hidden. His images invite a visual slowing-down, encouraging reflection and a meditative mode of looking. Rane has exhibited in New York, Philadelphia, Berlin, Carrara (Italy), and Utah.
About Material
Built on the collective vision of artists Jorge Rojas and Colour Maisch, Material is a multifaceted art space housing a commercial gallery, artist studios, classes and community events. Material exhibits local, national, and international artists through community-centered events and collaborations.
