What is the special role that artists have in society? They make important cultural contributions, but do they have a responsibility to take a role in the socio-political sphere as well? A group exhibition currently at Futura Gallery addresses this question head-on, with an accompanying exhibit by painter Daniel Pitín offering a more personal counterpoint.

"Chaplin Resident Fighter" is a conceptual art show curated by Milan Salák, Jiří David and Jan Kadlec, featuring these three and an intentionally unclear number of other artists inspired (or not) by the life and achievements of the famous comic actor and social advocate Charlie Chaplin, and challenged by the question: "Is being a 'resident fighter' the mission of the contemporary artist, or is it just one possible role?"

As this show attests, 17 years after the Velvet Revolution, political art in the Czech Republic has finally gone mainstream. Some of the newer wave of politically oriented artists, including the collectives Guma Guar and Podebal, are reacting more to world events than to domestic politics. But there is also a movement toward a combination of international and local angst, most notably by the art group Rafani and some older artists.

It was an expensive effort, especially by Czech standards, requiring private funding to pay for the use of printing equipment not available in this country (David had to print his large, pristine photos of "terrorist" Formula One racers in Vienna). His speech at the show's opening, captured on Labuda's video, becomes an impromptu public forum on the sad state of art funding in this country, with the lament that it prevents Czechs from producing works on an equal technological and professional level with artists in Western countries.

The remainder of the exhibit does a good job of incorporating ideas related to the show's theme by famous figures alongside statements of participating artists.

"The artist is cleverer than he seems, but dumber than he thinks," and "If you are not interested in the same things as me, I have nothing to tell you," are two of the best quotes scrawled across the walls by Amar Mulabegovič. In contrast, a quote by Andy Warhol pokes fun at the idealistic art activist: "Don't pay attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches."

There are sections of gallery wall with open invitations to visitors to scrawl their own words or drawings, which add a refreshing surprise and tension to the show, especially in a room where assorted cans of colored paint have been thrown on the wall and ceiling, covering a quote by Marshall McLuhan.

Manifesto.1 has one of the best rooms, with archival films showing political leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Hitler and Lenin giving speeches (dubbed in Czech) about art, or ranting about political art or the role of artists in society. A nearby quote by Warhol seems to respond: "But what does the artist fight for? More than anything else, some fight for fame and fortune."

On the staircase wall leading to Daniel Pitín's accompanying exhibit, "Adaptation," there is a quote by Émile Zola: "I am an artist. I am here to live out loud." Some of Pitín's characters appear to be doing just that, in solitude. His seven paintings (from 2006) include Dresden, which portrays three figures, heads down in a drunken and desperate blur, at the doorway to a building in an industrial zone, and Anger, which shows a middle-aged man in a suit and tie lying on a couch and screaming into the air, his eyes open and his fists clenched beside his head.