The Stedelijk Museum (photo by Hpschaefer/Wikimedia)
The Dutch artist Rob van Koningsbruggen has been banned for life from the Stedelijk Museum after repeatedly threatening to relieve himself on works at the Amsterdam institution.
When he was not invited to attend the 2012 reopening ceremony for the Stedelijk, which counts a number of his works in its permanent collection, van Koningsbruggen sent emails to the museum claiming that he would “improve with a well-aimed stream” a painting by Marlene Dumas. He also threatened to leak his lizard on a Luc Tuymans.
He was banned then, but took the institution to court in hopes of being allowed back. Eventually, the museum acquiesced to let him visit on a provisional basis, only to have van Koningsbruggen — who served jail time for arson in 2007 — threaten to bring fellow convicted criminal Willem Holleeder with him; he said the latter just might “take a whiz against the statue of Dan Flavin.” Eager not to have a visitor lift his leg on its light art, the Stedelijk reinstated the ban, and now a judge has approved a permanent prohibition against van Koningsbruggen visiting the museum, NL Times and the ANP reported.
In his defense, the tinkle-taunting painter claimed that his email threats were satire and should not be taken seriously. But the judge proved impervious to his potty humor.
Pretty obvious why he wouldn’t be invited in the first place, I guess.