The Palais des Arts et des Festivals in Dinard, France is presenting Big Brother: Artists and Tyrants until September 11.

The exhibition focuses on the artist’s relationship with the powers-that-be and features both well-known and emerging artists.

Big Brother is a reference to George Orwell’s 1984, a depiction of the constant struggle for power between the artist and the tyrant in a game of one-way mirrors: both the artist and the tyrant observe and are observed. According to the Art Media Agency website, the exhibition is presenting a selection of 50 contemporary works by 30 artists including Adel Abdessemed, Francis Alys, Ziad Antar, Brigitte Aubignac and Joana Vasconcelos.

This art exhibition will show political and provocative works by contemporary artists and studies the attitude of artists when confronted with their artworks: who is their tyrant and how can this despot be resisted?

Artists have always fought against oppression, be it in the form of censorship, propaganda – as in consumer societies – or the image of war resulting from new technology.

Big Brother features 20 installations, 15 paintings, 12 videos, eight prints, four photographs, four sculptures and two tapestries.