Marman and Borins Take Window Decoration to a New Level

Following their first career survey at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and on the very day the doors close on their first New York solo exhibition at Tierney Gardarin, Toronto-based collaborators Marman and Borins will again share the spotlight as the curtain lifts for Art Toronto—though all eyes will be on their abstract paintings. If you stopped by the Chelsea gallery for “Pavilion of the Blind,” you’ll remember the title piece, a kinetic sculpture made of colorful, motion-triggered window blinds rearranging in endless variations. Perhaps you’ll also recall that feeling of wanting to freeze the frame to remember the fleeting configurations; beautifully, Marman and Borins’ paintings do just that. At Georgia Scherman’s booth at Art Toronto, the related paintings catch the multicolor blinds and cascading window shades in fixed compositions, echoing the sculpture while playfully hinting at both artistic practice and abstraction. After the pair stopped by Artsy’s HQ for a happy hour toast to their recent success, we couldn’t help but follow up with a couple questions on their works as they’re moved from NYC to Art Toronto.