Surface and essence

The work of ink painter Yao Dawu appears to echo the verse by Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Bai Juyi that "flowers are not flowers, fog not fog". His depictions of animals, plants and dolls, drawn with loose strokes and in low saturated colors, convey surrealistic feelings. While creating a serene mood, the paintings have a philosophical undertone that addresses the contradictions between the appearance and the substance of things. In his solo exhibition, Surface and Essence, Yao discusses the meaning of art and the ultimate undertaking of the artist. The show is part of Not Alone on the Righteous Path, a long-term program by the China National Academy of Painting of survey exhibitions for resident artists. Yao's show runs until Saturday.

9-11:30 am, 1:30-4:30 pm, daily.54 Xisanhuan Beilu, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-6841-2606.

Rebirth from chaos

The audience for Bai Ming's ceramics will find that existing ideas and aesthetics have been revised. In his work, they will not find the intricate forms or decorative patterns normally seen in museums or even in daily life. Rather, they will enter a world in which the artist explores the possibilities of porcelain. The results manifest as bowls, sculptures or even as dozens of individual pieces hung midair as a form of an eye-catching installation. Bai's interpretation of ceramics is to show the form as an embodiment of the Chinese view of the relations between time and space, the tangible and the intangible. His one-man show at One Art Museum, which runs until Sunday, is a gift to those fascinated by the form. As the exhibition's title, Object Making and the Return of Things, suggests, the artist introduces visitors to the beauty of objects made in chaos from materials supplied by nature, and shows that the uncertainties and imperfections that arise during the process of making ceramics lie beyond the control of the artist, to help people better understand the beauty of nature.10 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. No 1 Zhongguancun D4, Beiqing Lu, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-5925-8064.

Under the sea

In April and August, teachers and students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts went on two research journeys to Dongshan Island in Fujian province. There, they were received by scientists stationed at an observatory run by the College of Ocean and Earth Sciences at Xiamen University, who introduced them to the mysterious undersea world, and the importance of studying the ocean and the lives it contains. CAFA members followed researchers doing their daily routines, and also experienced living on an island surrounded by a cornucopia of life, while occasionally weathering rainstorms. These experiences encouraged the students to make art, and to design educational programs about the ocean environment and marine life-forms with the help of the scientists. The results are now on display in Ocean Sensors, which runs at the CAFA Art Museum until Oct 29.

9:30 am-5:30 pm, closed on Mondays. 8 Huajiadi Nanjie, Wangjing, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-6477-1575.