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Ry Van Der Hout’s exhibition In Broken Light opened Aug. 26 at Toronto’s Spadina Museum and is scheduled to run through Oct. 18. Five sculptural works use broken and reassembled glass, mirrors and photography to respond to the mansion’s rooms and histories.
Artist Ry Van Der Hout’s In Broken Light opened Aug. 26 at Spadina Museum in Toronto, placing five sculptural works across the mansion’s four stories. The site-specific exhibition combines fractured and reassembled mirrors, stained glass and photography to engage with the building’s rooms and histories, and is scheduled to remain on view through Oct. 18.
The exhibition’s works respond to different spaces in the 1866 mansion, including a preserved archaeological dig site in the basement and an unrestored room on the third floor. The installations draw on research and conversations with spiritual leaders, descendants of former residents, historians, museum guides and conservators, according to the source report. The exhibition connects the house’s stories with Van Der Hout’s use of intentionally broken and repaired materials.
In the basement, a fractured disco ball spins to an audio track produced by NASA, scattering reflected light across stone walls and infilled windows. Another work uses photographs of Tiber, a historical interpreter at the museum, printed on stained glass. Van Der Hout made it with a reclaimed antique dressing-table mirror holder that the artist found in a dumpster at their studio.
The largest installation, Open Wing Death, is a 12-foot-high ovoid geodesic dome on the mansion’s unrestored third floor. The room was added in 1913 as a sunlit sanctuary for a resident with tuberculosis and later housed domestic staff. The sculpture is dedicated to those workers, the source report says. Other works named in the report include Tiber, Orpheus Twice and The Shattering.
Fractured Objects Meet House Histories
The exhibition places contemporary sculpture inside a historic house, making the mansion’s architecture and past part of the work rather than simply its setting. Visitors encounter installations in rooms associated with different periods and uses, including spaces tied to illness and domestic labor. That approach directs attention to people and experiences that can be less visible in accounts centered on the mansion’s residents.
Van Der Hout’s repeated method of breaking and soldering glass and mirrors gives the exhibition a material link between damage and repair. Curator Adrien Sun Hall describes the fractures as openings through which overlooked histories can emerge. That is the curator’s interpretation of the work; the reported details establish the exhibition’s materials, locations and research process, but do not determine how each visitor will read them.
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A Mansion Shapes the Installations
Spadina Museum is an 1866 Toronto mansion whose rooms preserve elements of the building’s history, including a basement archaeological site and an unrestored upper floor. The exhibition uses that setting to bring together objects, images and stories associated with the house. The source report says the former resident families’ histories include forbidden love and fatal illness, though it does not provide further details about those accounts.
Van Der Hout’s process begins with intentionally shattering glass and mirrors, then rejoining the fragments with traditional Tiffany stained-glass techniques, according to Hall. The works also incorporate photography and reclaimed materials. The exhibition’s title and approach frame memory as something assembled from fragments, while its individual installations remain tied to specific rooms and histories.
““At the heart of In Broken Light is the understanding that shattering isn’t the end of a story—it’s the beginning of a new narrative.””
— Curator Adrien Sun Hall
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Dates and Visitor Details Remain Unspecified
The source report gives the opening date as Aug. 26 and the closing date as Oct. 18, but does not state the year. It also does not provide ticketing information, visiting hours, accessibility details or whether the museum has announced related public programming. Those details should be checked with Spadina Museum before a visit.
The report describes five sculptural interventions but names only several works, and it does not give a complete list or explain the placement of every installation. It also does not include responses from museum visitors or a fuller account of the historical research behind each piece.
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Exhibition Runs Through October 18
According to the source report, In Broken Light remains on view at Spadina Museum through Oct. 18. The report does not identify a later venue, an extension or any planned continuation of the exhibition after that date. Visitors seeking current hours or access information will need to consult the museum directly.
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Key Questions
Where is In Broken Light on view?
The exhibition is at Spadina Museum in Toronto, an 1866 mansion.
When did the exhibition open, and how long is it scheduled to run?
The source report says it opened Aug. 26 and is scheduled to run through Oct. 18. It does not state the year.
What materials does Ry Van Der Hout use?
The reported installations combine fractured and reassembled mirrors, stained glass and photography. Some works also incorporate reclaimed objects and audio.
What is Open Wing Death?
Open Wing Death is the exhibition’s largest work: a 12-foot-high ovoid geodesic dome installed on the mansion’s unrestored third floor. The room was added in 1913 and later housed domestic staff; the sculpture is dedicated to them, according to the report.
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