The sculpture "Freedom" by Zenos Frudakis, done in 2001 for the laboratory GlaxoSmithKline, is exhibited at the Philadelphia headquarter of the laboratory.
He also did two works with GlaxoSmithKline former CEOs Joseph J. Ruvane and Sanford Altwood and painted Sir Paul Girolami, former CEO, Glaxo PLC.
I believe that the Zenos is not aware of the numerous harms caused by medicines sold by this laboratory.
The antidepressant Paxil/Seroxat alone causes addiction; suicidal and violent behavior that makes people kill themselves or others; it is tetarogenic, and all the other harms caused by SSRIs antidepressants - Prozac-like.
Antidepressants SSRIs don't help depressed people and the most common is that the person who has clinical depression takes all the brands on the market and are not helped, The numerous side effects are added to the pain. The hypothesis that depression is caused by a "chemical imbalance" of serotonin has already been proved wrong and these antidepressants reuptakes serotonin in the brain, 5 per cent, and rest, 95% goes to other parts of the body creating a huge amount of harms.
Impotence and lack of sexual desire, inability to achieve orgasm and other sexual dysfunctions are caused by SSRIs and it can last even when the person quits the drug.
There is a Yahoo group SSRI-sex Yahoo group created in 2005, where some people exchange their pain and try to find solutions but they didn't find any relief.
"Freedom" is not a concept that goes well with laboratories as many people have been saying over the internet in testimonies and in blogs.
For GlaxoSmithKline Bob Fiddaman haa been exposing at his blog Seroxat Sufferers: Stand up and Be Counted. Seroxat is paroxetine that is sold in America as "Paxil" and in other countries as "Aropax".
The UK Parliament has already done a good review in 2005 , "The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Company"(click at the link to read the .pdf.) but nothing has changed.
Excerpt:
5. Problems with Seroxat and other SSRIsFor a long time most artists are committed with the great causes like human rights, freedom of speech and all the problems that citizens of the world are facing. It is disappointing when it goes the other way.
Prozac and Seroxat are the best-known examples of SSRI and related antidepressants, but others are widely used. The introduction of SSRIs led to a threefold increase in antidepressant prescriptions between 1990 and 2000. Prescriptions for antidepressants now match those of the benzodiazepine tranquillisers at their peak, 25 years ago.
Almost from the outset, there was concern about two main problems with SSRIs. First, there was suspicion (initially centred on Prozac) that these drugs could induce suicidal and violent behaviour – infrequently, but independently of the suicidal thoughts that are linked to depression itself. There was also concern (centred on Seroxat) about a risk of dependence; some users found it impossible to stop taking SSRIs because of severe withdrawal symptoms.
The MCA/CSM formally reviewed these problems on several occasions. The suicidality problem was first investigated in 1990/1; withdrawal reactions were investigated in 1993, 1996 and 1998. In 2002, the MCA organised a further intensive review of both problems. This review was abandoned in April 2003, following criticism about conflicts of interest involving key figures on the review team. (emphasis added)
Mark Twain, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Joe DiMaggio, contemporary governors, mayors and academical people were sculpted by Zenos creating a heteroclite and strange hall of fame.
"I'm not duplicating life. I'm making a statement about human values." said Duane Hanson a great sculpture that used hyper-realism to talk about human condition. I did two posts about him: "Duane Hanson complex's world" and here.
Update: April, 17, 2013
The sculptor Zenos Frudakis left a long comment explaining that the sculpture was not commissioned by GlaxoSmithKline although all the data I search claims that it was done for the laboratory. This is what he said:
"I am Zenos Frudakis, the sculptor of Freedom and the portraits you have discussed. I appreciate your concern about prescription drugs. The tragedies of Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson are witness to this justifyable concern. There are some things you won’t know about the sculpture if you are not standing in front of it.
The client for this sculpture was the building developer, not the pharmaceutical company. GSK is not the owner of the sculpture, nor does it have anything to do with the sculpture. The developer asked me to create this sculpture for the front of his building. The major renter of the building for some years has been GSK, who is now moving, and not taking the sculpture with it. It doesn’t belong to them. I do not have control over the renter of the building. The next client will likely be a business, because it is an office building, but it could be a non-profit organization like Red Cross or Greenpeace.
I agree that artists need to be ethically responsible, and of course I did not create the sculpture to promote drug addiction. The sculpture is about freedom. Long after many renters come and go in that building, the sculpture will remain and Freedom will endure.
Regarding the variety and scope of my portrait sculpture, I am a professional working sculptor. As such, I am commissioned to create portraits of people. I have, from time to time, declined to sculpt people I felt would compromise my ethical integrity.
This is how I make my living. On my own, I sculpt people I admire. If you view my portfolio, you will see I have created portraits of Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, Margaret Sanger, Darwin, Einstein, Thoreau, Emily Dickenson, Churchill, Anne Frank, Roosevelt, Nietzsche, John Muir, Rachel Carson, Alan Turing, Harriet Tubman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and many more. Portraits that I do on my own are my personal choice, and they are not going to coincide with everyone’s personal favorites.
I am driven to create art that promotes a better world, but like everyone, I am limited by time and financial resources. I sincerely do my best."
This is what Zenos wrote but I still do not understand the reason he used as models two GlaxoSmithKline former CEOs:
Joseph J. Ruvane, former CEO of GlaxoSmithKline. Bronze, over-life-size sculpture. Research Triangle Park, NC
Sir Paul Girolami, former CEO, Glaxo PLC. Oil on canvas, life size. London, England.
Joseph J. Ruvane, the GSK former CEO by Zeno Frudakis
