Laura Owens

Amid the visual overwhelm on display in Laura Owens’s eponymous exhibition, which spans two of Matthew Marks Gallery’s Manhattan spaces, an abiding image is the candy cigarette.

- Wendy Vogel

Within the reception desk — itself an artwork, Untitled (2025) - at 522 West 22nd Street, the artist has stashed several hand-painted faux cigarette cartons. In the adjoining room, above five large paintings riffing on the history of abstraction (all Untitled, 2025), she has painted the sweets into the trompe l’oeil jumble of cords ringing the ceiling. Next door, at 526 West 22nd Street, are five handcrafted jewellery box-like cases (all Untitled, 2022), each containing books and works on paper; a box themed around fraud and deception pairs confectionary cigarettes with West Wing Reads, a cata-logue of press releases from US President Donald Trump’s first term, and a photo-graphic index of revolting food mashups, such as Flamin’ Hot® Cheetos-covered Oreos.