Off-limits to the public for months due to COVID-19, the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing reopened on Saturday with two exhibitions.

An installation titled Chinese Xieyi No. 44: Connoisseurs, a major piece by sculptor Lyu Pinchang, greets visitors upon their arrival at the museum. In it, four bald men, all life-sized cast bronze sculptures, squat around a pile of shattered ancient ceramics that sprawl for meters, as if they were bent on detecting the valuable ones.

Lyu and his CAFA colleague, Ma Lu, are holding their exhibitions under the title CAFA Annual Fine Arts Nomination Exhibition 2020.

The annual exhibit features more than 100 works by the two artists, both professors with the CAFA School of Plastic Arts.

Lyu's work, Zhi Xiang, literally translated as the images from earth, showcases works from nine series and chronicles the artist's 30 years of practice that is closely associated with ceramics and the material's modern transformation.

Ma's work, Qi Xiang, literally images of colliding energies in nature, showcases three series of abstract oil paintings the artist has produced over the last decade.

Initiated in 2010 by the academy's School of Plastic Arts, the annual event is designed to "highlight professors who have established their own styles in artistic pursuit and to reveal the latest developments of the genre," according to Fan Di'an, head of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

The exhibition runs until Nov 1 at the CAFA Art Museum. After the Beijing leg, it will move to the Taoxichuan Art Museum in Jingdezhen, East China's Jiangxi province, and the Shenzhen Art Museum in South China's Guangdong province.

If you go:

In light of epidemic prevention and control, the museum has a daily cap of 600 visitors. To make a visit, a reservation through its official website and WeChat account is needed.

9:30-17:30, Tuesday to Sunday. 8 Huajiadian South Street, Chaoyang district, Beijing 010-6477-1575北京市朝阳区花家地南街8号中央美术学院美术馆