TOXIC FIX
Solo show at Josilda da Conceição Gallery, Amsterdam in 2018. Poisonous stories of lethal chemicals, used in murder cases. Installation includes paintings, cake, knives, tape, and bandages.
Stabbed cakes: Sleeping pills, Final and De Ruijter, a sandwich with chocolate sprinkels and sodium azide
MALCOLM X
Ode to civil rights activist and imam Malcolm X, who was assassinated when he delivered a speech in the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights, New York City on February 21, 1965. The silent witnesses on the crime scene: a fallen chair and 5 bullet holes in the decor. It was painted on his 93rd birthday, on May 19, 2018. Together with ‘EVOL’, free after the iconic ‘LOVE’, by Robert Indiana, who died on May 19, 2018.
Oil on raw Belgian linen, tape, band-aids, 24x27 and 12x14inch (60x70cm and 30x35cm), 2018
BERENBURG Poison murder with sodium azide, oil on raw Belgian linen, 12x14inch (30x35cm), 2018
RUAVIEJA Poison murder with Minoxidil, oil on raw Belgian linen, 12x14inch (30x35cm), 2018
JELL-O Poison murder with antifreeze G12, oil on raw Belgian linen, 12x14inch (30x35cm), 2018
AMMO Mixing cleaning supplies is dangerous: a Spanish woman who was cleaning with ammonia and bleach died in 2018 when these chemicals formed a toxic gas, chloramine. Oil on raw Belgian linen, 24x27inch (60x70cm), 2018
SLEEPING PILLS Attempt #3 & #1, oil on raw Belgian linen, 12x14inch (30x35cm), 2018
SLEEPING PILLS Attempt #2 Poison murder with sleeping pills, oil on raw Belgian linen, 12x14inch (30x35cm), 2018
FINAL Rat poison, don't feed to pets and loved ones. Oil on Belgian linen, 24x27inch (60x70cm), 2018
SODIUM NITRITE & SODIUM AZIDE
Which one is the euthanasia powder 'Agent X'? There has been a lot of discussion about the secret powder in the Netherlands. The Last Will Society promoted it for their members but never revealed the name of the chemical. It’s supposed to help old people who have a fulfilled life who are not terminally ill and who want to die in a peaceful way. You only need 2 grams of the powder. A depressed young woman, 28-year old Marjolein, figured out what chemical it was and committed suicide, which resulted in criminal charges against the Last Will Society in 2021. In 2023 Alex S. was sent to jail for 3.5 years for selling 'Agent X' and antiemetic.
Oil on raw Belgian linen, 24x27” (60x70cm), 2018
BERENBURG & RUAVIEJA Fleece, yarn, washi tape, 3.5x6inches (9x15cm), 2018
STILL LIFE
The research into top 25 lists of unusual murder weapons, also lead to poison murders. There are more female than male perpetrators in this category. The Still Life installation represents five ‘mis-en-place’ murder cases, with the real lethal stuff. Don’t try this at home.
Installation view at Josilda da Conceição Gallery, 2017
JELL-O
Lynn Turner from Cobb County, Georgia, US, poisoned two of her husbands Glenn Turner and Randy Thomson with ethylene glycol, a sweet but odorless chemical in antifreeze. In 1995, her husband, police officer Glenn Turner, died after allegedly being sick with the flu. In 2001, the death of what her next husband, Randy Thompson, under remarkably similar circumstances, aroused the suspicion of law enforcement. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Turner committed suicide in her cell on August 30, 2010.
5 liter antifreeze G12, 3 boxes of Jell-O, 12x12x12" (30x30x30cm), 2017
JELL-O RGB
3 pedestals, Jell-O Red, Green, Blue at group show Day & Night, 2018. 5 liters (1.3 gallons) antifreeze G12, 3 boxes of Jell-O, 12x12x12" (30x30x30cm), 2017
SPAGHETTI SAUCE
The 47-year-old Marie-Josée Vandenbosch, ‘Poisoner of Tongeren’ (Belgium) was sentenced to 30 years in prison. She was convicted for two attempted murders and murder of her husband Rudi. Marie-Josée was working as a cleaner in the eldery and as a hostess at parties. During the trial she appeared to have had many lovers. The woman first did a failed attempt to poison her husband by putting sleeping pills in his spaghetti sauce.
1 bottle Sugocasa, 4 boxes of sleeping pills, 12x12x12" (30x30x30cm), 2017
BERENBURG
In May 2012 husband and wife Marian Heij and Nasr R. from Wageningen enjoy a pleasant evening but after drinking a glass of Berenburg Marian starts feeling sick and everything goes very wrong. She was urgently taken to the Radboud hospital in Nijmegen, but her health declines rapidly and she dies the next day, May 13 at 9.30 AM. It turns out her husband Nasr. R has put poisonous sodium azide (natriumazide) in her drink. In 2013 he was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
1 bottle Sonnema Berenburg, crystal glass, 100g sodium azide ≥98%, 12x12x12" (30x30x30cm), 2017
RUAVIEJA
The 55-year-old woman Galina R. from Kattendijke poisoned her 60-year-old husband Ad van den Dool on March 8, 2009. She had put hair growth medication Minoxidil in his Spanish liqueur Ruavieja. Although a doctor at first assumed it was a natural death, the same day new information had come to light, that made the cause of death suspicious. Galina R. was sentenced to 7 years in prison.
1 bottle Ruavieja, crystal glass, 2 bottles Minoxidil, fake leaves, 12x12x12" (30x30x30cm), 2017
PEANUT BUTTER
The 27-year-old Bart S. from Heerlen, was convicted to six years in prison and preventive custody. The chemist confessed he killed his girlfriend by spreading poison on a peanut butter and sprinkles sandwich. The 30-year-old remedial educationalist died on July 22, 2003, after becoming unwell at her job in Sittard. Despite quick medical assistance, she died a few hours later in hospital. After seven weeks the man turned hemself in to the police. He said he had put a mixture of sodium azide and theobromine on her sandwich.
1 box De Ruijter sprinkles, 1 jar Calvé peanut butter, 10 g Theobromide ≤99%, 12x12x12" (30x30x30cm), 2017
WEAPON: OTHER
Unusual murder weapons. Innocent objects with real, nasty stories, and Associates. A series of 42 paintings, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2015-2017
WEAPON OTHER solo show. Arti Galerie, Amsterdam. Assemblage of 30 paintings, 22x5feet (660x140cm), 2016
WEAPON OTHER solo show. Arti Galerie, Amsterdam, 2016, installation view
SMALL PROBLEM
A father killed his three-year-old son Bastien by putting him in a washing machine and turning it on. He called emergency services, saying he had a 'small problem' as his son had fallen down the stairs. However the victim's older sister, then five, told the doctor: 'Daddy put Bastien in the washing machine because he was naughty at school.' The mother said that when her ex-husband removed Bastien from the washing machine and noticed he was no longer breathing he said: 'At least he won't bother us anymore.'
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 24x27inches (60x70cm),
Vasco del Arte, Shamrock House, Abcoude, group show, 2016
MCCOLLUM
In April 2006, 61-year-old Jimmy Hackley from Jacksonville, Florida strangled 29-year-old Patricia Ann McCollum with a pair of sweatpants. He was charged and found guilty of first-degree murder.
Acrylic on canvas, 24x31" (60x80cm), 2015
TEMPLE
A corkscrew was used as a murder weapon in Brooklyn, New York in February 2008 when 55-year-old Murat St. Hilaire was stabbed in the head. His 11-year old daughter found him lying face up on the bedroom floor and came outside, saying: 'Daddy's dead! Daddy's dead! Somebody stabbed him!’. The corkscrew was still embedded in his temple.
Acrylic on raw Belgian linen, 21x23" (55x60 cm), 2015
