By Cindy Brzostowski, to Museum Spotlight Europe (December 2022)
Fourteen years ago, the Boros Collection put on its first presentation, solidifying the transformation of the former Nazi air-raid shelter in Berlin into a must-visit contemporary art destination. Since then, every four years the pieces have been swapped out for a completely new display of sculptures, paintings, and more. The year 2022 marks the opening of the fourth presentation, which explores identity, both directly and indirectly. This presentation features works by Andreas Eriksson, Anne Imhof, He Xiangyu, Katja Novitskova, Anna Uddenberg, and other artists from around the world—all of which are still living except for one: painter Adrian Morris.
Upon entering the initial room where your tickets are checked, before you even begin the official tour, you’re immediately faced with works by Alicja Kwade, a Polish-German contemporary visual artist. On one wall is her large-scale piece Ein Jahr; the painting beckons visitors nearby, where a pattern of tiny pocket watch hands appear.
On the wall adjacent, Kwade’s “Selbstportrait,” displays her genome in row after row of differently combined As, Ts, Gs, and Cs. And that clock you see placed high up on the wall? That’s art, too: Kwade’s Dimension -1–9. Don’t believe the time it tells, because it’s secondhand ticks slower than normal. These works explore time and space—its subjectivity and how the body moves through it—and serve as a fitting welcome to leave the outside world behind and immerse yourself in this windowless, receptionless hideout, where the only distraction is art.
Alicja Kwade. Selbstportrait, 2022. Courtesy the artist and KÖNIG GALERIE. Photo: Roman Maerz.
As the tour commences through the bunker, you’ll see nearly 30 artistic positions across five floors and 80 rooms. The works’ range of mediums as well as the diversity in how they’re installed throughout the austere, concrete space, offer much to explore for all contemporary art lovers.
Some of the most unforgettable pieces in all of Boros Collection #4 are Anna Uddenberg’s provocative, hyperrealistic sculptures made with aquaresin. Her sculpture, FOCUS # 2 (pussy padding), is a female figure wearing a bright blue puffer jacket, light-blue plastic slides, and a bike helmet complete with long strands of fake hair spilling out of the helmet’s holes. The figure is bent almost entirely in half, aside from the arms, which come up at an unnatural angle, holding a furry paddle made out of a selfie stick at just the right, lascivious position from above.
Photo courtesy of the artist Anna Uddenberg.
Similar motifs appear in Uddenberg’s Rona’s Revenge, which comes next in the tour. In this piece, a feminine cyborg figure with long, reddish-brown hair and an oxygen mask is on its knees, contorted over, while holding up a fuzzy selfie stick seemingly in the act of taking photos of herself from behind. With both sculptures from the Swedish artist, the figure’s positioning along with the specific choices and textured materials of the attire, reflect on the culture of consumption, social media, sexuality, and commodification. Overall, the sculptures make for thought-provoking images that are sure to stick in your mind long after you’ve left the bunker.
With so many unique, noteworthy pieces, it’s difficult to narrow down the highlights in Boros Collection #4, affirming how captivating and well-rounded the collection is. American visual artist, Bunny Roger, created enlarged, bronze Neopets sculptures, which are inspired by his formative experience playing the online game as a child. Pieces from Berenice Olmedo, a Mexican artist, are made with used kids’ leg braces that are attached to invisible wires and motors and periodically “stand up” and start “walking.”
From far away, Berlin-based Klára Hosnedlová’s Untitled (from the series nest) looks like paintings set into uniquely shaped terrazzo frames, but come closer and you’ll see that the images mounted in the center are made with strands of colored cotton thread. Another art installation that requires closer inspection is Belgian artist Kris Martin’s Fairy Tales. Here, the walls are lined with framed white pages. Each framed sheet of paper has a single period cut out from the last sentence of different famous books like The Diary of Anne Frank. While the idea may seem simple, it prompts a deeper reflection: no matter how the story goes, there is an ending.
Photo : Boros Collection, Berlin © NOSHE
As you follow your guide up and down floors and across different rooms, you’ll feel tempted to linger in the back of the group to look a little longer at the pieces that captivate you, and quickly step into side rooms that receive cursory mentions. The museum asks visitors to stick with the group, as it fosters a different viewing experience than aimlessly perusing art museums, where often you can sit on a bench in front of the same piece for hours.
In addition to the lack of free roam, the temporary nature of the exhibit and the prohibition of photography all urge visitors to be fully present, soaking up as much of the art and the architecture as possible in a finite amount of time. After all, you never know when you’ll pass by that room again on the tour, or even when you’ll next see that specific art piece in person—unless you book another tour within four years, of course.
For more savoring of the art, there is always the option to buy the Boros Collection catalogs. With photos of all the works plus explanatory texts inside, there’s one made for every collection presentation, so you can look back at any of the pieces you missed in previous years’ displays. Once you’ve seen a collection in person, you might find yourself already planning your trip back in four years’ time to be surprised and delighted by the next round of art.
Boros Collection #4 runs until March 31, 2026. Due to fire regulations, visits are only possible by booking a spot on a 90-minute guided tour (available in German and English). As tours frequently fill up far in advance, it’s recommended to plan well ahead if you want to visit the collection on a specific day. Standard entrance costs 18 Euros per person.
Cover Photo: Boros Collection, Berlin © NOSHE
