Looted

Uncovering powerful insights into the relationships between art, memory, politics, and loss, this multimedia installation reflects on the history of Polish-owned paintings stolen by the Nazis during World War II. Created by artists Dorota Mytych (Poland), Jessica Houston (Canada), Marcia Teusink (UK), and Tracy Grubbs (USA), the installation presents videos of each artist painting reproductions of fifty-nine of the looted artworks documented in Poland’s National database. Watching this mesmerizing process comes with an unexpected conclusion: before each canvas can dry, the artists wipe away their own painstaking work in a stunning erasure that challenges the meaning of authorship, ownership, and recovery. Paintings by Raphael, Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, and others are infinitely recreated and erased, offering new ways to process the impact of these stolen works and experience art as a means for resilience.