Christian Boros (born 1964) is a German advertising agency founder and art collector, who owns an art gallery in a former

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...

in Berlin.

Early life

Christian Boros was born in

Zabrze Zabrze (; German: 1915–1945: ''Hindenburg O.S.'', full form: ''Hindenburg in Oberschlesien'', Silesian: ''Zŏbrze'', yi, זאַבזשע, Zabzhe) is an industrial city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The west district of the Si ...

, Poland in 1964. His family moved from Poland to

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, West Germany, in order to escape communism. Boros earned a degree in communication design from the

University of Wuppertal The University of Wuppertal (''Universität Wuppertal'') is a German scientific institution, located in Wuppertal, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The university's official name in German is ''Bergische Universität Wuppertal'' ...

, Germany. He wrote his

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

on the aesthetic of the evil characters in James Bond.

Career

Boros founded an eponymous advertising agency in

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

. Boros has appeared in the ''

ARTnews ''ARTnews'' is an American visual-arts magazine, based in New York City. It covers art from ancient to contemporary times. ARTnews is the oldest and most widely distributed art magazine in the world. It has a readership of 180,000 in 124 countri ...

'' list of the top 200 collectors since 2006. In 2003, Boros and his wife purchased a former Second World War bomb shelter, the Reichsbahnbunker in

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzb ...

, Berlin. The bunker was converted by Casper Mueller Kneer, who are responsible for

White Cube White Cube is a contemporary art gallery founded by Jay Jopling in London in 1993. The gallery has two branches in London: White Cube Mason's Yard in central London and White Cube Bermondsey in South East London; White Cube Hong Kong, in Centra ...

in London. In 2008, Boros opened his gallery in the bunker. The gallery space of was designed by Realarchitektur, including the rooftop residential penthouse, and contained pieces that Boros had been collecting for over 30 years. The collection includes numerous works by Danh Vo, Elizabeth Peyton,

Wolfgang Tillmans Wolfgang Tillmans (born 16 August 1968) is a German photographer. His diverse body of work is distinguished by observation of his surroundings and an ongoing investigation of the photographic medium’s foundations. Tillmans was the first photog ...

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...

Thomas Ruff Thomas Ruff (born 10 February 1958) is a German photographer who lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany. He has been described as "a master of edited and reimagined images". Ruff shares a studio on Düsseldorf's Hansaallee, with fellow German ...

Klara Lidén Klara Lidén (born 1979) is a contemporary artist. She currently lives and works in Berlin and New York City.Anselm Reyle Anselm Reyle (born 1970) is an artist based in Berlin. He is known for his often large-scale abstract paintings and found-object sculptures. Biography Anselm Reyle was born in Tübingen, Germany in 1970. He studied at the Staatliche Akademie d ...

Tobias Rehberger Tobias Rehberger (born June 2, 1966) is a German sculptor, born in Esslingen am Neckar. He studied under Thomas Bayrle and Martin Kippenberger at the Stadelschule in Frankfurt am Main, where he now teaches. Work Rehberger works in the wider ...

and

Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson ( is, Ólafur Elíasson; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's ...

. Entrance to the gallery is by

guided tour A tour guide (U.S.) or a tourist guide (European) is a person who provides assistance, information on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage to people on organized sightseeing and individual clients at educational establishments, relig ...

only. Boros' bunker was built in 1943 by the architect

Karl Bonatz Karl Nikolaus Bonatz (1882–1951) was a German architect, best known for designing a bunker in 1943 that is now an art gallery. He was the younger brother of fellow architect Paul Bonatz. The brothers presented a plan for modernising the H� ...

on the orders of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. After the Second World War, the bunker was used as a fruit warehouse, before later becoming a fetish nightclub, with a reputation for being the "most hardcore club in the world," featuring

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

music and frequent

sadomasochism Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

(S&M) nights, or "raves and sex parties" according to

. Boros bought a building which was home to a children dancing school for twenty years. After the purchase, there was a controversy about doubling of the rental fee in 2009 and alleged speculation. As a result, the dancing school had to leave the building in 2019.

Personal life

Boros is married to Karen Lohmann, and they live in Berlin, in a 550 sq metre (5920 sq feet) penthouse flat above their gallery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boros, Christian Living people 1964 births German company founders Museum founders People from Zabrze University of Wuppertal alumni Polish emigrants to Germany German art collectors 21st-century art collectors