From Britain to Germany and Japan, then on to Tate Britain, this is a list of Polari Magazine’s Favourite Exhibitions of 2013.

Paul Klee: Making Visible • Tate Modern

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This inspiring survey of the work and life of the German painter brought together paintings from his whole career, and vividly illustrated the depth and breadth of his output. Including the familiar and the surprising, it showed how Klee was always experimenting, always developing, at a time when to be a European artist was to be immersed in a world of horror and war. A truly spectacular illustration of what painting is capable of in the hands of a visionary genius. – Michael Langan

BP Walk Through British Art • Tate Britain

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Tate Britain unveiled a major re-hang of its permanent collection this year, under the heading ‘A Walk Through British Art’. Eschewing the recent fashion for the thematic display, this chronological display also does away with much of the information usually found on gallery labels, designed to be informative but which often becomes intrusive. Beautifully presented and intelligently curated, producing an enlightening geological survey of British art, the substance of which is really brought home by the inclusion of artists who will be unknown to many people. – Michael Langan

Louisa Fairclough, Bore Song • Contemporary Art Society

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The Bristol-based artist, Louisa Fairclough, presented a number of works, including the film sculpture ‘Bore Song’ and the series of drawings, Ground Truth. All of them examine the nature of grief, absence and longing. ‘Bore Song’ is a projection onto a small glass block of a woman’s shout, or cry, into the air. It references the natural phenomenon of the Severn Bore, when a tidal surge rushes up the river Severn, and her drawings chronicle Fairclough’s relationship with the countryside around it. These are deeply moving and meditative works. –  Michael Langan

Souzou, Outsider Art from Japan • Wellcome Collection

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My first visit to the Wellcome Collection (which in itself was a revelation) was to see Souzou, an exhibition of art created by 46 individuals from social welfare institutions across Japan. The diversity of the work was striking, and included all disciplines; but more astonishing was that the immense detail of the works proved the unifying element of the show. Ceramic lions crafted from thousands of spikes, an army of one inch high transformer-like robots folded from coloured foil and film posters painted entirely from memory. It was a wonder. – Bryon Fear

Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life • Tate Britain

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The fact that Lowry’s work was highly sought after during his life time, and commanded a good price, was one of this exhibitions’ many surprises. These infamous urban scenes of the dirty and often harsh reality of industrialisation took on a different meaning with a new tension found between the profit and the poverty inherent in the work. Tate Britain painted the walls grey for this exhibition and deftly wove throughout information, as well as other painters’ works, to give greater context and meaning. – Bryon Fear

Queer Britannia • Tate Britain

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Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of the year was Michael Langan’s queer tour of the newly hung permanent collection at Tate Britain, which was so popular it had to be repeated. Much more than a look at the queer art and artists that can be found in the gallery, Queer Britannia was an archaeological exploration, unearthing and decoding the symbols and imagery buried in the paintings of the past ,and how that visual dialogue became more blatant as we moved toward the 20th Century. It was insightful, engaging and thoroughly entertaining. – Bryon Fear