Zenos Frudakis
Zenos Frudakis is an American sculptor whose diverse body of work includes monuments, memorials, portrait busts and statues of living and historic individuals, military subjects, sports figures and animal sculpture. Over the past four decades he has sculpted monumental works and over 150 figurative sculptures included within public and private collections throughout the United States and internationally. Frudakis currently lives and works near Philadelphia, and is best known for his sculpture Freedom, which shows a series of figures breaking free from a wall and is installed in downtown Philadelphia. Other notable works are at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina, the National Academy of Design, and the Lotos Club of New York City, the Imperial War Museum in England, the Utsukushi ga-hara Open Air Museum in Japan, and the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.
Biography
Born on July 7, 1951, in San Francisco, Frudakis is the oldest of five children. He was born to Greek-American parents, and was raised primarily in Northwestern Indiana, with the exception of several years in Wheeling, West Virginia. As a child, Frudakis first began to sculpt under the family's kitchen table with a piece of dough given to him by his mother as she was preparing to bake bread. Growing up in Greek family culture, Frudakis began drawing and reading at a young age, initiating a lifelong discipline of studying and creating art each day. Artistic inspirations come from ancient Greeks, and sculptors Michelangelo, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and Auguste Rodin.Frudakis' initial years in college were close to home in the Gary, Indiana area due to illness of his father. During this time, he spent summers working in steel mills, and in 1970 to 1971, attended Indiana University Northwest Extension.
In 1972, Frudakis moved to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Concurrently, he also studied sculpture privately with Prix de Rome winner Evangelos Frudakis, his elder brother. Frudakis studied painting privately with Prix de Rome winner James Hanes. From 1977 to 1983, he attended the University of Pennsylvania, where Frudakis earned bachelor's and master's degrees in Fine Arts.
Career
Early work
In 1976, Frudakis married Rosalie Gluchoff. Together they began a gallery and ran Frudakis Studio, located in center city Philadelphia. Frudakis' first important commission was a portrait sculpture of Samuel L. Evans, founder of the American Foundation for Negro Affairs ; followed by portrait sculptures of Wilson Goode, former mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The Honorable K. Leroy Irvis, the first African American to serve as a State Legislature's Speaker of the House; and Joseph E. Coleman, former City Council President, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Figure and portrait sculpture
Frudakis continued sculpting commissions with an emphasis on the figure and the portrait, as demonstrated in his many monumental works, individual portrait statues and busts, and bas-reliefs. He created sculptures of living and historic individuals that express the character and vitality of his subjects while capturing an accurate likeness. Portrait statues included notable figures, such as businessman and philanthropist John D. MacArthur, installed in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; Honorable Dame Lois Browne-Evans, the first female Bermudian justice, installed in the Dame Lois Browne Evans Building, Hamilton, Bermuda; landscape architect, journalist and public administrator Frederick Law Olmsted, installed at The North Carolina Arboretum, Asheville, North Carolina; and lawyer Clarence Darrow on view at the Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Some of Frudakis's sculptures have generated controversy. When he sculpted a life-size bronze bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, apartheid was still in effect there. The U.S. government had advised Frudakis he could be jailed for bringing the sculpture into South Africa, so the bust was brought into the country in 1989 by diplomatic pouch. The sculpture was installed just inside the embassy's fence, visible to the public but outside the South African government's reach, standing as a statement of the U.S.’s opposition to apartheid.Clarence Darrow
Frudakis' statue of attorney Clarence Darrow reawakened tensions between local evolutionists and creationists when it was installed outside the Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee, in 2017. The courthouse was the site of the 1925 Scopes "monkey trial," in which John T. Scopes was accused of unlawful teaching of human evolution in a state-funded school. Darrow represented Scopes, while William Jennings Bryan argued for the prosecution. Since 2005, a sculpture of Bryan has been on display on the courthouse lawn. The Darrow sculpture was commissioned by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and installed on the lawn in balance to the Bryan sculpture, where it drew criticism from some residents who oppose to the teaching of evolution in Tennessee schools.Sports sculpture
Frudakis has been commissioned to create bronze portrait busts, statues, and monuments of significant figures from the sports world, including golf, baseball, hockey and boxing.Payne Stewart, Pinehurst
A celebratory pose of golfer Payne Stewart, with a leg in the air and a fist thrust to the sky, is commemorated in Frudakis' bronze statue displayed at Pinehurst Resort, North Carolina, near the spot where Stewart, in 1999, made this gesture upon winning the U.S. Open. The sculpture was unveiled at Pinehurst in 2001. In 2014, when Pinehurst once again hosted the U.S. Open, on the 15th anniversary of Stewart's win, attendees posed alongside the sculpture, mimicking the iconic pose. Thousands of television and online viewers saw these images; Payne's daughter Chelsea was photographed with her father's sculpture and the PGA Tour called it on Instagram, "The coolest statue photo you’ll see this week."Payne Stewart's tribute trophy case at Pinehurst Resort also showcases Frudakis' portrait bust of Payne Stewart along with historic photos and memorabilia.
Other golfers
Sculptures of other prominent golfers include Arnold Palmer at Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in Augusta, and the Arnold Palmer Airport, Latrobe, Pennsylvania and the Arnold Palmer at Tralee, Ireland; Jack Nicklaus at the USGA Museum, Far Hills, New Jersey, and at Valhalla, Lexington, Kentucky; Dinah Shore at the Wall of Champions, Rancho Mirage, California; Bob Jones at East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia, and U.S. Golf Association Museum, Liberty Corner, New Jersey; and Robert H. Dedman, Sr. and Richard Tufts at Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst, North Carolina. Golf Digest commissioned Frudakis to create the bronze trophy sculpture known as The Arnie, a philanthropy award for "golfers who give back."Baseball Hall of Famers
Frudakis’ larger-than-life sculptures include Baseball Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts, all on view at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia. A relief sculpture of Coach Staffieri is at University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field. A public monument at the DiMaggio Children's Hospital, Hollywood, Florida, shows Joe DiMaggio kneeling to speak to a young boy, and includes the inscription, "We never stand so tall as when we stoop to help a child."Boxer James J. Braddock
World champion boxer James J. Braddock is commemorated in a, bronze statue at James J. Braddock North Hudson Park, North Bergen, New Jersey, near where the boxer lived and trained. The sculpture was unveiled on September 27, 2018, attended by a large crowd including local and county officials, Braddock's family, fans and other notable boxers Gerry Cooney, Pat Murphy, Randy Neumann, and the legendary "Bayonne Bleeder," Chuck Wepner.Jimmy Braddock, grandson of James, said, "This statue is a reminder of the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity through determination."