Triptych, 1995 - 2000
HoneyBee - Oil on Canvas, 32"x75"
Man Being Stung by Bees - Oil on Canvas, 61"x25"
50 Voodoo Bees - Oil on 50 Masonite Panels with Magnetic Backing, 61.125"x25"
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I wanted so bad to be cured that when I heard about the bees Lydia and Kathleen drove me and Szabo all the way to Waldorf to get stung twice a week and then when the tv cameras came and the neighbors complained we went to Amber's in Bethesda, and then Louis and Marisa came here, each week for a year, to do the stinging. Fifty-two paintings, Fifty-four bees. Twenty-five stings a session, fifty stings a week, fifty weeks. Two thousand five hundred stings. Venom and pain foamed in my limbs. We were so sick and swollen at first we couldn't get all the stings at once. Then we were pros. Once we were stung the stinger stayed in for fifteen minutes, pumping venom even though the bee was gone. Some of the bees died instantly. Others flew around for a while, under a death sentence.
Each voodoo bee carries the power of fifty stings. Fifty stings, through me, to you. I can't say what beepower the big one has, it's off the chart.
– William Newman
"Man Being Stung by Bees" is a superbly painted picture of a horrifying scene: Newman being stung repeatedly on the leg by honeybees, That willingness to try anything that might lead to a cure is the quintessence of longing. It's the most powerful piece in thes strange, strong show.
– Ferdinand Protzman
Three of the fifty Voo Doo Bees:
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