judy’s dorothy’s

Exhibition Dates:
September 12 - October 31, 2025

Opening Reception in Project Space:
Friday, September 12, 2025, 5:00-9:00pm

Rivalry Projects is thrilled to announce Julia Dzwonkoski: Judy’s Dorothy’s, the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, on view in our Project Space.

What do all of the works in the collection of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum have in common? In Dzwonkoski’s latest body of work, 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.

Freely associative and above all humorous, Dzwonkoski’s work features simple, irreducible forms that can be repeated. In the case of Dorothy’s socks and shoes, they have an iconic visual resonance that is similar to the ghost forms that occupy much of her other work. Similarly, the name Judy tends to roll off of the tongue - Dzwonkoski says, “I love repeating it: Judy. Judy. Judy.” In Vertigo, Judy Barton pretends to be a glamorous heiress who’s possessed by a ghost. We never find out who Judy really is except that, like Dorothy, she’s from Kansas. Unlike Dorothy, she dies instead of waking up. Curious about Judy, and the world she occupied, Dzwonkoski created a series of drawings just to be able to sign them ‘Judy’, and repeat her signature. This interest in repetition, copying, or doubling, now manifests in Dorothy’s ruby red slippers - a stand in for manifold versions of Judy, among different timelines.

With over 40 studies in this series, the drawings are sparse and schematic. They both resemble each other, and recall the original works of art, which, in turn, normalizes Dzwonkoski’s humorous visual interruption. 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. Where the shoes are located, and how they occupy the composition, depends on the original. Speaking on the more minimal works included, Dzwonkoski states, “Those don’t have feet in them so I had to wing it and find the right spot for the shoes."

Judy’s Dorothy’s was generously supported by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. The exhibition will be on view Rivalry Projects from September 12 - October 21, 2025.

WORKS

Installation ImageS

coming soon..

About the Artist

Julia Dzwonkoski is a painter based in Buffalo, NY. She studied art at SUNY Buffalo and UC San Diego. Living in Los Angeles for many years, she collaborated with Kye Potter on paintings, books, ceramics and the record label, Orion Read. Her recent paintings explore the highs and lows of modern life though the lens of ghosts, stars and inventions for the end-times.