Boros Collection / Bunker Berlin #4

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May 1, 2022 – Ongoing

Boros Foundation / Sammlung Boros

Cyprien Gaillard, Lesser Koa Moorhen, 2013 / Photo Boros Collection, Berlin © NOSHE

With works by Jean-Marie Appriou, Julian Charrière, Thomas Eggerer, Cyprien Gaillard, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, Yngve Holen, Klára Hosnedlová, Anne Imhof, Alicja Kwade, Victor Man, Kris Martin, Nick Mauss, Jonathan Monk, Adrian Morris, Paulo Nazareth, Berenice Olmedo, Amalia Pica, Bunny Rogers, Michael Sailstorfer, Wilhelm Sasnal, Pieter Schoolwerth, Anna Uddenberg, Julius von Bismarck, Eric Wesley, He Xiangyu.

We have rarely been as aware of the vulnerability of our physical bodies as in recent years. As a society, we are constantly upgrading our bodies through artificial enhancements to immunize ourselves against infections and maximize our performance.

Memories are externalized – stored in clouds – and social interactions are digitalized. As gadgets become increasingly humanoid, our bodies gradually morph into technoid devices. In the Boros Collection’s new presentation #4, this commodification of our physical beings is repeatedly and poignantly objectified. It presents a completely new excerpt of the private collection in the bunker.

Anna Uddenberg, Rona’s Revenge, 2020 / Photo Boros Collection, Berlin © NOSHE

He Xiangyu, Asian Boy, 2019-2020 / Photo Boros Collection, Berlin © NOSHE

While actual bodies are often absent from the exhibition space of the transformed monumental building, their presence is felt nonetheless through mere allusions. Such is the case in Anne Imhof’s works. Sculptural elements that were central components of past performances serve as departure points for the mediation team to verbally reenact the fleeting moment of the performance. The group of works by Mexican artist Berenice Olmedo similarly outlines the body in silhouettes throughout the space. Orthopaedic braces, used to rectify distortions in our bodies, are mechanically animated using wires. As a result, the individual sculptures seem to straighten up, only to collapse again, debilitated, just before completing the movement. Swedish artist Anna Uddenberg’s female bodies appear distorted as well. Her artificially contorted, often faceless sculptures seem almost dehumanized and, at the same time, represent the perfect embodiment of digital self- staging through selfies.

The previous presentation already illustrated a series of works by Yngve Holen that show how he mechanically dissects objects with near-surgical precision. Now, a new body of work by the Norwegian – German artist will demonstrate a deeper exploration of his complex artistic practice. A practice that continuously illustrates the extent to which our constructed everyday reality provides revealing evidence of the perfidious views and thinking that we have now unquestioningly internalized.

Yngve Holen, FOD, 2021 / Photo Boros Collection, Berlin © NOSHE

Anna Uddenberg, FOCUS # 2 (pussy padding), 2018 / Photo Boros Collection, Berlin © NOSHE

Bunny Rogers / Photo Boros Collection, Berlin © NOSHE

We have learned to associate physical proximity with increased risk of infection, to distance ourselves from each other and disinfect after mutual contact. The presentation of the collection addresses this phenomenon as an inventory of our alienated relationship to bodies and their spectacular “techno-metamorphosis.”

From May 1, 2022, over 20 contemporary artist positions will be showcased across 80 rooms, of the approximately 3000 sqm collection, as part of Gallery Weekend Berlin. The Boros Foundation team is particularly committed to mediating their represented works; 220,000 visitors could thus gain extensive insights into contemporary artist positions of the previous presentation.

Eliza Douglas, Anne Imhof, Bell, 2021 / Photo Boros Collection, Berlin © NOSHE

Klára Hosnedlová, Untitled (from the series nest), 2020 / Photo Boros Collection, Berlin © NOSHE

The Boros Foundation is a non-profit organization that promotes and supports contemporary art.

With a high-rise bunker in Berlin Mitte it operates an exhibition space for the presentation of the private collection of Karen and Christian Boros. The main focus is on mediating the exhibited works of art to a broad public. Through guided tours the artistic positions of each presentation are communicated by a team of currently 36 employees – art historians, artists and cultural scientists.