Benadryl (diphenhydramine)
16” x 20”
Acrylic on canvas
2009
$400
Benadryl is a staple of the medicine cabinet, an over-the-counter drug with several different useful effects. It is the first antihistamine ever discovered, and still one of the most powerful antihistamines known, making it very effective against most allergic reactions, which are mediated by the histamine system.
In addition, diphenhydramine is found in an anti-nausea preparation, Dramamine, which is a salt of diphenhydramine and 8-chlorotheophylline, a caffeine derivative which slightly counteracts the profound sleepiness that diphenhydramine can cause. In addition, it is the first known SSRI, the predecessor to Prozac and other antidepressants, although this effect is largely overshadowed by its sedative powers, which are so great that diphenhydramine is also the most common non-prescription sleep aid, found in Tylenol PM and several other products.
Overdoses of Benadryl cause delirium, confusion and memory loss, and it is sometimes taken illicitly to achieve these effects. Maybe for this reason — or maybe for some reason known only to itself — the government of Zambia has made possession of Benadryl illegal.
These molecules are rendered as space-filling models, in a natural, low-energy conformation, and displayed from an angle that shows off as much of their structure as possible. The atoms are color-coded, with carbon being black, hydrogen white, oxygen red, and nitrogen blue. They are painted in artist-quality acrylics, on gessoed canvas
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