BEWARE: Big Brother has instructed that on no account must subjects of Oceania visit this exhibition. Attendance at this unauthorised event must be considered a ‘thoughtcrime’ and will result in the imposition of the severest penalties on anyone ignoring this ruling…
Seventy years after George Orwell’s death, the term ‘Orwellian’ crops up unprompted in media conversation on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. It may be misused by people who are referencing anything remotely totalitarian or anti-social, but that still provides a measure of this man’s work and the shadow it throws across the landscape of contemporary thought. Although he was not a visual artist and art criticism does not figure prominently in his work, his writing provides a continuing stimulus for artists of conscience and political resistance. Originating as an online resource, ‘Room 103’ has developed into an ongoing travelling show, with an ever-changing roster of artists examining all themes ‘Orwellian’. This Oriel Q exhibition follows on from previous exhibitions in Manchester, Leeds and the University of Oxford, where it provided a visual centrepiece for a symposium dedicated to discussion of the great man’s work.
