Ryan Van Der Hout’s "To Reflect Everything" Debuts in NYC
Ryan Van Der Hout’s ‘To Reflect Everything’ Debuts in NYC
A dazzling 7-foot mirrored sculpture in Washington Square Park that explores themes of identity, visibility, and transformation, in partnership with Future Fair.
As a New York-based art fair committed to showcasing works that resonate deeply with the city's cultural discourse, Future Fair is thrilled to announce our involvement as a programming partner for To Reflect Everything, a monumental public art installation by artist Ryan Van Der Hout. Presented by United Contemporary (Future Fair 2025 exhibitor) and NYC Parks Art & Antiquities Division, this project embodies themes of reflection, queer culture, and community transformation.
Set against the iconic backdrop of Washington Square Park—long a symbol of progressive cultural movements and located just steps away from Stonewall—To Reflect Everything engages in a powerful dialogue about visibility, identity, and possibility. We are honored to support this project and the meaningful conversations it inspires.
To Reflect Everything will be on view from January 9 to March 30, 2025. This striking 7-foot a monumental sculpture that blends the gleaming facets of a disco ball with the sleek form of a space satellite. More than just a visual spectacle, To Reflect Everything is a dialogue between the present moment and what lies ahead. Perpetually suspended between departure and arrival, the sculpture evokes the tension between the familiar and the unknown, offering viewers a chance to contemplate not only what is visible but also what might be waiting to emerge.
"To place a gleaming object that usually finds shelter in dark, enclosed, and loud spaces instead in the outdoors can be disconcerting," writes curator Renata Azevedo Moreira. "Yet Van Der Hout's To Reflect Everything unapologetically does it all, its expansiveness not to be confused with invasiveness. The sculpture is a radical attempt to queer simple definitions, functions, actions, and values. It lives and shines and occupies space, its presence impossible to ignore – even if, sometimes, one may disappear inside its gaps."
To Reflect Everything consists of a silver steel base suggesting a lunar lander and a fiberglass spherical surface populated by hundreds of polished mirrors irregularly distributed around it. The project draws on the disco ball's history as a symbol of queer sanctuary and the satellite's promise of alternative futures, transforming public space into a site where multiple realities can coexist.
Future Fair Presents: Artist Talk with Ryan Van De Hout, March XXXX
We are excited to present a culminating event celebrating To Reflect Everything. This two-part program will feature a public conversation with Ryan Van Der Hout about art in public spaces. Following the talk, we’ll host a community dance party that activates the work’s disco ball inspiration. Click Here to RSVP.
About the Artist:
Ryan Van Der Hout is an interdisciplinary artist based in Toronto and New York City, exploring material processes to navigate states of being such as transformation, undoing, and queer identity. Their work spans photography, public art, and sculpture, consistently using reflection and fragmentation to examine how we construct meaning. Van Der Hout has exhibited across Canada and internationally, with recent exhibitions including Mending Shards at United Contemporary (Toronto, 2024) and selection as a primary site for Nuit Blanche Toronto 2023.
To Reflect Everything is presented in partnership with NYC Parks Art & Antiquities Division and the Washington Square Park Conservancy. The project was developed with support from United Contemporary (Toronto), where Van Der Hout is represented. The project originated at the Toronto Sculpture Garden where it served as a primary site for Nuit Blanche 2023, with support from the City of Toronto.