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’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.
 
This exhibition is organized and circulated by The Mackenzie Art Gallery and is curated by Crystal Mowry.