As a child in Gary, Indiana, Zenos 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. Zenos father, born in Greece, came to the U.S. as a boy. The oldest of five children growing up in Greek culture, Zenos admired, respected, and was drawn to Greek sculpture. Greek art influenced his aesthetic vision; additional inspiration came from sculptors Michaelangelo, Bernini, Carpeaux and Rodin. The poetry of Eliot, Frost, Roethke and Graves, is important to Zenos, as is post-modern, deconstructionist philosophy.
Zenos studied by scholarship at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, completing his formal education with a Bachelor in Fine Art and a Master in Fine Art at the University of Pennsylvania. Zenos studied sculpture with his brother, sculptor EvAngelos Frudakis, and oil painting with James Hanes, both winners of the Prix de Rome.
In 1988 as a young sculptor Zenos was commissioned by the United States Information Agency (USAI) under the Arts America program to sculpt a bronze bust of Dr. Martin Luther King. The US South African ambassador at the time, Edward Perkins, had requested Zenos’ sculpture of Dr. King after seeing it selected in a competition conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts. This was during the height of Apartheid in South Africa. His plan was to place the Dr. King sculpture just inside the Pretoria embassy gates where it would be protected under diplomatic law. But Dr. King’s image would be highly visible to passersby, and the fact Dr. King’s likeness was displayed in Pretoria would serve as a symbol of hope and US support to those suffering under the oppression of Apartheid at the time.
There was just one problem: The Apartheid government would not permit a likeness of Dr. King to be brought into their country.
The State Department met with Zenos and proposed a plan for him to accompany his sculpture in a diplomatic pouch under the guise that he was attending “An art exhibit” in Pretoria. Shipping the sculpture alone would disqualify a diplomatic label, and would subject it to search and seizure.. They warned there was a risk to Zenos of being imprisoned if the sculpture was found in his possession when entering the country. He was instructed not to discuss the sculpture with anyone during his travel. The Apartheid regime was notorious for deploying spies and paid informants on international travel. Zenos’ wife was not permitted to join him.
Zenos took a circuitous travel itinerary through Malawi and Botswana to give the appearance of a touring artist. Zenos arrived in Pretoria and did make it safely through customs along with the sculpture. The sculpture was delivered to the embassy late that night escorted by US security. Zenos was sequestered in his hotel room for two days guarded by US security until the official unveiling. During the ceremony the embassy was surrounded by South African police. Zenos and Ambassador Perkins handed out bottles of wine through the front gates inviting the police along in the celebration. Zenos left South Africa the next day and said upon his return to American soil “I did not breathe easy until my return flight, when my plane left South African air space. But it was worth it to ensure my Dr. King was there to inspire those who are suffering under the apartheid regime".
Later, Zenos and his then wife would donate the original Dr. King NEA sculpture to the Martin Luther King Center in Philadelphia https://www.facebook.com/pages/Martin-Luther-King-Recreation-Center/179399382079981
The US Australian Embassy is currently considering a commission of yet another Frudakis Dr. King sculpture which will be gifted to The University of New South Wales in Sydney for their 'Peace Garden' to join sculptures of Gandhi and Mother Theresa.
Zenos' emphasis has been the figure and the portrait, as demonstrated in his many monumental figure/portrait works, individual portrait busts and bas-reliefs. He excels at expressing the character and vitality of his subjects while capturing an accurate likeness. Zenos portfolio includes figure sculpture, animals, bas-reliefs, portraits—both busts and paintings—of living and historical individuals, and poetic/philosophical sculpture with a post-modern sensibility. Over the past four decades, he has created monumental works in public and private collections throughout the US and abroad.
Although Zenos creates personal, expressive works of art, he is a commissioned artist with over 100 public sculptures demonstrating a wide-ranging versatility capable of sculpting subjects from the human form to the abstract. Zenos "Freedom" sculpture in Philadelphia combines both, and appears continually on published lists of "Top 10" public sculptures in the world.
