"Fates of Works" marks Raphaël Denis’s first U.S. exhibition, bringing together works from 2018 to the present that examine the political and historical dimensions of artistic provenance. Drawing on more than a decade of research into the Nazi looting of Jewish-owned property, Denis investigates the relationship between artworks, archives, memory, and restitution. Works addressing the Paul Rosenberg collection juxtapose archival documentation with representations of looted paintings, while a reconstruction of his 2024 Sprengel Museum exhibition considers censorship, destruction, and the ongoing restitution of a work identified as Nazi-looted. Through restrained objects, installations, and artist’s books, Denis positions provenance as a site of historical responsibility and civilizational memory.
