Artwork copyright dick ibach. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright dick ibach. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright dick ibach. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.

Homage to Chiefs Joseph, Moses, Gary, and My Uncle Charlie Crowfeather, 1982

dick ibach
(American | German, born 1940, died 2021)

Location: Spanaway Lake High School, Spanaway

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Homage to Chiefs Joseph, Moses, Gary, and My Uncle Charlie Crowfeather by dick ibach features two characters surrounded by ibach's trademark energetic patterns and colors. The title refers to three Chiefs: Joseph (Wallowa band of the Nez Perce Tribe), Moses (Columbia band), and Spokane Gary (Middle Spokane tribe) who were influential leaders for their people and liaisons between the tribes and white settlers in the 1800s. All three men and their tribes ended up in the Spokane area of Northeastern Washington, and none of them were able to negotiate reservations on their original homelands. We don’t know who “My Uncle Charlie Crowfeather” is. The painting’s two characters offer many clues in their clothing and body language. Many of ibach’s artworks feature suggest a story, but ibach also believes that you, the viewer, should interpret the story via the artwork’s “visual language” of colors, shapes, and textures.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Department of Transportation and Bethel School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Spokane, Eastern Washington-based artist dick ibach (1940-2021) created paintings that combine figurative imagery with expressive forms, symbolism, and intense patterning. His art is humorous and often based on his memories: "It is my intention to speak of the contradictions of the human condition: to address both the nobility and stupidity of it all." He believes that the viewer must develop a “visual literacy” and not expect explanations, because “Artists are visual and their imagery is visual… Words are for poets.”

ibach was born and grew up in Yakima, Central Washington. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Seattle University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, in 1972. He taught art at Spokane Falls Community College for over fifteen years. In addition to teaching, he was a Jesuit brother for ten years during the 1960s and he worked many odd jobs such as a hospital orderly, sod buster, cattle brander, grave digger, and cabinet maker. These experiences shaped his point of view as an artist.