Title

Red Wing #24

Creation Date

1968 – 1973

Description

Assemblage: Charles Biederman, "Red Wing #24," 1968-73, acrylic on aluminum. Some scratches resulting in paint loss, extensive craquelure on substrate and projecting planes.

The construction was installed as a piece of public art in an urban redevelopment project in downtown Red Wing--known as Jordan Court and Arcade--dedicated on September 13, 1973. The Red Wing Arts Association, with a matching grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and grants from the Minnesota State Arts Council, contracted with Charles Biederman, artist, and architect Dennis Grebner as well as Lilly Merkel, landscape designer, to design a housing for display of a Biederman artwork on the mall. Project cost $27,500 including land.

The painting installation was dismantled in July 1986. "Red Wing #24" was displayed temporarily in the lobby of the Red Wing Public Library before being loaned to the GCHS.

Text from an accompanying panel created for its dedication on September 13, 1973 at the Jordan Court and Arcade in Red Wing, MN:
"Work #24, 1968-71, Red Wing, by Charles Biederman
This is a work which Biederman calls 'a new art of light. The changing light of day is best to show the work in its many aspects.'
Biederman was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1906 of Czech immigrant parents. After study in New York and Paris he returned to Chicago in 1940 because of his belief that the art of the future lay in the American Middle West. He settled in Red Wing in 1942.
With this work we honor a local living artist who is one of Minnesota's most renowned citizens whose contributions to the workd of art continues.
Made possible through the generosity of the children and citizens of Red Wing, friends throughout Minnesota, grants from the Minnesota State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Architect: Dennis Grebner
September 13, 1973
Sponsored by the Red Wing Arts Association"