Thick As Thieves

How is an exhibition like a plot?

The interrelations between artworks, like the artists who make them and the public who encounter them, yield conspiracies and allyships. Each object can be an agent – a powerful symbol of the various bonds that we nurture or conceal throughout our lives.

From an early age, we learn that resilience comes from connection, whether with other living beings, to a particular context, or as part of an exclusive network. Thick as Thieves brings together works forged in intense and often covert forms of connection. Drawn largely from the MacKenzie Art Gallery’s Permanent Collection, this selection of works invites us to consider how themes of fidelity, mutual desire, and fraternity formed by circumstance or power have held the interest of contemporary artists.

Thick as Thieves is organized and circulated by the MacKenzie Art Gallery. Curated by Crystal Mowry. The MacKenzie receives ongoing support from the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, SaskCulture, City of Regina, University of Regina, and Saskatchewan Arts Board. The Banff iteration of Thick as Thieves is supported by The Rimrock Banff, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and Bowstrings Heritage Foundation.

Artists in the Exhibition

Deanna Bowen, Tammi Campbell, Lynne Cohen, David Furman, General Idea, Guerilla Girls, Jenny Holzer, Spring Hurlbut, August Klintberg (Associate Professor, Liberal Studies), Marilyn Levine, Micah Lexier, Arnaud Maggs, Esmaa Mohamoud, Evan Penny (Dip ‘75, Sculpture), Wilf Perreault, Auguste Rodin, Amanda Strong, Inglis Sheldon-Williams, and Nic Wilson

Esmaa Mohamoud, Deeper the Wounded, Deeper the Roots (1), 2019, archival pigment print on paper, edition 1 of 5 (1 AP), Collection of the MacKenzie Art Gallery. Photo: Don Hall