BIFF Offscreen: Judy Multiplied

On view Thursday, October 9 - Thursday, October 16 @ Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center.

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Judy Multiplied, 2025, Gouache on paper, 18x24 inches

What do all of the works in the collection of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum have in common? In Julia Dzwonkoski’s latest series of drawings, the answer is shoes, specifically Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz. The signature shoes, and vibrant blue socks, appear in black and white studies of recognizable works in the museum’s collection. Along with slight alterations to the compositions, the original titles have been changed - The Dynamism of Judy, The Judy Mill, Judy-Frutti, and Why not Sneeze, Judy? - a comedic tribute to both Judy Garland and Judy Barton, who led a double life in Hitchcock's 1958 film Vertigo.

With over 40 studies in this series, the drawings are sparse and schematic, resembling each other as much as they mirror the originals. The size, location and number of shoes varies from artwork to artwork, the goal in each case being “a good fit.” Over time, the series grew to include not only figurative works in the Buffalo AKG collection but the post-war abstract and minimalist works for which the museum is known. Dzwonkoski states, “Those don’t have feet in them so I had to wing it.”

For more of Julia's work, visit Judy’s Dorothy’s on view during the festival at Rivalry Projects (free and open to the public Thur Oct 9, Fri Oct 10, Sat Oct 11, Wed Oct 14, and Thur Oct 16 from 11:00AM - 5:00PM during BIFF).

Judy’s Dorothy’s and Judy Multiplied were generously supported by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, with fiscal sponsorship provided by Buffalo Int'l Film Festival. The exhibition will be on view at Rivalry Projects from September 12 - October 21, 2025.

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About the Artist:

Julia Dzwonkoski (b. 1972) studied art at SUNY Buffalo and UC San Diego. Her drawings have been exhibited at Rivalry Projects (Buffalo), Gattopardo (LA), Current Space (Baltimore), Harkawik (NY) and are collected in the books Two Eyes in an Environment (2023) and 100 More Frogs (2025). She is currently working on a new series of drawings inspired by the poet and collagist Helen Adam.

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Image courtesy of the artist and Rivalry Projects, Buffalo, NY.