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Artwork copyright dick ibach. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.
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Artwork copyright dick ibach. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.
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Artwork copyright dick ibach. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.
boat ride, Date unknown
dick ibach
American (born 1940, died 2021)
Location: Spanaway Lake High School, Spanaway
About the Artwork
boat ride by dick ibach is an expressive and colorful painting with intricate details and symbolic imagery. Two figures are floating in the middle of a boat-shaped form. The artist describes this form as a "baby tornado" like the dust devils found in Central Washington. Look closely and you will see that the figures are cross-eyed, since, as the artist notes, "no one's perfect." An empty chair sits at the top of the tornado, above which floats an anchor line, with a heart for an anchor. At the bottom of the composition, notice the red-winged black bird carrying the boat on its wings. ibach notes, "i have used the red-winged black bird as a symbol of friendship."
This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with 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. He was also 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.
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