''Freedom'' is a bronze public sculpture in the form of a large slab and a freestanding statue by American sculptor

Zenos Frudakis Zenos Frudakis (born July 7, 1951), known as 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 ...

, installed in 2000 outside the offices of

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...

in central

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania. The sculpture invites viewers to pose for a photograph in an empty cavity.

Background

The sculptor, Zenos Frudakis, wanted to create a sculpture centering around the idea of breaking free. The slab is said to represent freedom from all restrictions: mental, political, religious, and physical, and has been called a "visual metaphor for the process of transformation".

Design

The sculpture, completed in 2000 and dedicated on June 18, 2001, consists of a bronze slab weighing and a freestanding bronze statue. It is installed at ground level on a wall outside the Philadelphia offices of GlaxoSmithKline on

Vine Street Vine Street is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that runs north–south between Franklin Avenue and Melrose Avenue. The intersection with Hollywood Boulevard was once a symbol of Hollywood itself. The famed intersection fell into ...

. ''Freedom'' centers around four human figures depicted in different stages of freeing themselves in the slab. The rightmost figure has broken free and stands away from the slab with outstretched arms. Frudakis left the inscription "stand here" in the cavity vacated by the figure as an invitation for viewers to pose for a photograph. Frudakis cast his own face and his sculpting tools as part of the artwork, and included depictions of twenty-five people and a cat in the bronze.

Reception

''Freedom'' has been recognized as one of the best public art sculptures. ''Architectural Digest'' called it one of the "28 of the Most Fascinating Public Sculptures" in 2019. Writing in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' in 2021,

John Rentoul John Rentoul (born 1958) is a British journalist. He is the chief political commentator for ''The Independent''. Early life Rentoul was born in India, where his father was a minister of the Church of South India. Educated at Wolverhampton Gram ...

ranked the sculpture fifth on his top-ten list of best public artworks.

Explanatory notes

References

External links

* {{Commons category inline, Freedom Sculpture 2000 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Pennsylvania Outdoor sculptures in Philadelphia Tourist attractions in Philadelphia