A new year brings a new calendar of exhibitions and there are so many fantastic shows to get stuck into. Make seeing more art your new year’s resolution and start filling your diary with these unmissable exhibitions.

Calligraphic Awards

Lanting Xu, written by calligrapher Wang Xizhi in the mid-4th century, is considered one of the greatest pieces of Chinese calligraphy. It thereafter inspired the China Calligraphers Association to launch the China Calligraphy Lanting Awards, the country’s top awards for the creation of calligraphy. An exhibition now at the National Art Museum of China shows such handwritten pieces by 19 artists who have received Lanting's lifetime achievement awards. The exhibition runs until April 27.

9:00 am-5:00 pm, closed on Mondays.

Refocusing on the Medium

Works by 17 trailblazers (先锋) in experimental video art from China, Japan and South Korea are being shown at Refocusing on the Medium: The Rise of East Asia Video Art, a survey exhibition at the Minsheng Art Museum. It is an unprecedented art exploration — how video is reshaping artistic creation since the 1960s. It takes viewers to the past and the frontiers of video art. The exhibition ends on May 8.

10:00 am-5:00 pm, closed on Wednesdays.

Rebuilding Ideals

Yin Zhaoyang is a leading artist of his generation. He has developed a highly personalized approach to landscape painting, exploring the relations between individuals and society, history and the present. Rebuilding Ideals, an exhibition at the Tang Contemporary Art Museum, reviews Yin’s creation and methods of thinking over more than 20 years. The exhibition runs until May 5.

10:00 am-5:00 pm, closed on Fridays.

Reverse Reconstruction

Contemporary artist Yang Mushi is showing installations (设备) made between 2019 and 2022 at his fourth solo exhibition, Reverse Reconstruction, at Galerie Urs Meile. It shows Yang's continuous exploration of the presentations of materials, such as stainless steel, wood and plastics. His works examine the meanings of handwork and mass production that have reshaped people’s way of life. The exhibition runs until May 15.

11:00 am-6:30 pm, closed on Mondays.

What is art? That’s an easy question to answer. Art is a painting, a drawing or a sculpture. Now there are new items to add to the list. Art is a dead shark in a glass case. Artisan unmade bed. Art is a video of a group of people standing completely still for sixty minutes.

A new group of young artists began to produce work to challenge the accepted idea of what art is and the role the artist should play in society. This group came to be known as the YBAs — the Young British Artists. The art of the YBAs does not just stick to painting and sculpture. It uses all kinds of different materials to express the feeling of the artist.

Damien Hirst is the most famous of the YBAs. The Shark in the Box is his work and is meant to express his own fear of dying. The shark stands for death. Right now, it is harmless. But eventually it will come for you. There is nothing to be done about it.

Traditionally, artists have a message. They use their skills to lead us to enlightenment (启迪). The message of the YBAs is that they cannot do this. They are just as mixed up and confused as everybody else. A journalist once asked Damien Hirst what his next idea was for an artwork. “I don’t know what I’m going to do next. I never know what I’m going to do next,” he replied.

Another YBA, Tracy Emin recently produced a work called “Bed”. This is just her own bed with the sheets dis arranged and dirty. And the message? “Look at me — I’m a mess.”

Some artists work with citizens in producing their work. Gillian Wearing filmed a group of people dressed as policemen trying to keep still for 60 minutes while standing on top of a table. At the end of that time, the table falls apart and everyone falls to the floor. You can try to be a good citizen and a respectable member of the community. But don’t try too hard or the pressure will be too much.

Art mirrors the sale of society. In the work of the YBAs we can see a society on the threshold (开端) of the future — a bit worried, a bit excited and wondering what is going to happen next. The YBAs can’t guide us, but they can make the journey more interesting.

There was a fine piece of carving stone material, but it was ruined by an unskilled sculptor. Mistakenly, he dug a hole on the part that was originally for the figure's leg. So this rare piece of marble （大理石）was abandoned in a church.

One day, someone called in Michelangelo. They believed only he was able to make use of this piece of marble. Michelangelo looked at the stone and concluded that he could carve out a beautiful figure as long as he got the design adjusted to hide the damaged part.

Michelangelo decided to carve the young David. One day, the mayor （市长）of the city entered the studio. He regarded himself as a carving expert and appreciated the work. He told Michelangelo that his work was a fantastic masterpiece, but the nose was too big.

Michelangelo knew the mayor was standing right below the statue, so his visual angle was incorrect. Without a word, he asked the mayor to climb up the platform following him to the nose position. He then picked up a tool and some small pieces of marble. Michelangelo began to carve gently with the tool and made the collected stone pieces in his hand drop bit by bit. In fact, he didn’t change the nose, but it seemed as if he did. After several minutes, he stood aside and said, “Now, have a look!"

The mayor answered, "This is better. You have made it true to life."

Everyone believes they are right. If you try to persuade others to change their grounds by words, the reasoning of your argument may fall on deaf ears. Learn to prove the correctness of ideas in an indirect way. Getting the support of others through your own actions will be more powerful. One can never win if he only relics on arguments.