A World of Shifting Certainty, The Family in British Art, Millennium Gallery, Sheffield

The family is unique as a social institution: it functions largely in private, while at the same time has a public character; it may be defined one way for political purposes, yet assume any number of forms.

Contemporary Sound Art, Haroon Mirza: /|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|, Spike Island, Bristol

In his first UK solo exhibition, Silver Lion Award winner of last year’s Venice Biennale, Haroon Mirza unfolds the map of an uncharted soundscape at once inviting and forbidding.

Embracing the Alternative Canvas, In Numbers: Serial Publications since 1955, ICA

In Numbers does not claim to be an exhaustive survey of serial publications since 1955, but aims to provide the contours of the genre.

The Passage of Materials, Steve Claydon: Culpable Earth, firstsite, Colchester

Colchester is known as being the oldest documented town in the UK. A visit to this city is likely to include a tour of the castle, a pint in a pub and a building showcasing cutting edge contemporary art.

Simultaneous Shock; Awe, Dana Schutz: If The Face Had Wheels, Miami Art Museum

Dana Schutz has developed a distinctive visual style characterised by vibrant colour and raw and tactile brushwork. If the Face Had Wheels is a survey of the artist’s work, spanning 2001 – 2011.

Interview with Julia Vogl: Winner of the Creative Works Competition

We speak with the winner of the 2011 Creative Works Competition, Julia Vogl, an installation artist whose public artwork challenges the role of the artist and art in relation to political events.

Jean-Marc Bustamante, Peintures Carrées (Square Paintings), Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris

Peintures Carrées is an exhibition of works on square, screen-reprinted Plexiglas by artist Jean-Marc Bustamante. The artist incorporates design and architectural space into his work.

Visual Games, David Evans’ Critical Dictionary, WORK Gallery, London

The show’s title puts in mind an idea of declassification and redefinition. It is borrowed from Bataille, whose Critical Dictionary was printed as a section of his surrealist journal Documents.

Palm Trees and Poker Players, James Hockey; Foyer Galleries, University for the Creative Arts (UCA), Farnham

Helen Carmel Benigson is media-savy that is for sure; her work layers colour, print and sound to create immersive, dreamlike and hyper-sensual installations that explore themes of female empowerment.

The Familiar and the Exotic, Last Chance to See, Diane Arbus, Jeu de Paume, Paris

Diane Arbus revolutionised the art she practised. Her bold subject matter and photographic approach produced a body of work that is shocking in its purity, in its steadfast celebration of things as they are.

Turner and the Elements & Hamish Fulton: Walk, Turner Contemporary

The seaside town of Margate boasts Turner Contemporary, a gallery that celebrates JMW Turner, who made Margate his home for a number of years, and international artists from abroad.

The Language of Political Dissent, Lis Rhodes: Dissonance and Disturbance, ICA, London

“Touching stories picked from a wound. Positive angles wrenched from their sockets,” reads a pair of lines from Running Light: a text that accompanies Lis Rhodes’ exhibition of the same name.

One Man’s Treasure, Creative Stars: Lost is Found, Cornerhouse, Manchester

Found Objects have been popular as a medium since Robert Rauschenberg began experimenting with the discarded and lost in the 1950s. The idea of making something out of nothing was intriguing.

Home Grown, The F.E. McWilliam Gallery & Studios, Banbridge, County Down

Since its inception, The F.E. McWilliam Gallery has gained an impressive reputation for programming important retrospectives of Irish Modernists and innovative thematic exhibitions.

The Archaeology of Place, Zarina Bhimji, Whitechapel Gallery, London

Spanning 25 years of a practice embedded in historical and empirical research, Zarina Bhimji portrays buildings and architectural surfaces as “protagonists” in an unpeopled landscape of violence.

The Human Face of Climate Change, Last Days of the Arctic, Proud Chelsea, London

Last Days of the Arctic is a moving and insightful photographic portrait of a disappearing landscape and the Inuit people who inhabit it, by celebrated photojournalist Ragnar Axelsson.

Mark Power: The Sound of Two Songs, Impressions Gallery, Bradford

The Sound of Two Songs is Mark Power’s photographic survey of Poland, formed and collected over five years. He made his first visit to Poland as part of a project to capture countries joining the EU.

Existence at the Threshold, Alex Dordoy, The Modern Institute, Glasgow

Alex Dordoy’s work exists at the threshold of completeness and often retains the potential for change, or even destruction. He uses a range of materials including glass and plaster.

The Fundamental Collaboration between Maker; Material, Formed Thoughts, Jerwood Space

There are certain exhibitions whose titles are so ambiguous and nonsensical that even before attending the show you are met with a quiet sense of dread on whether you will get it.

Physical Manifestations of Information, Merseyside’s Leo Fitzmaurice wins Northern Art Prize

The fifth annual Northern Art Prize, worth £16,500, has been won by Merseyside-based artist Leo Fitzmaurice, it was announced at Leeds Art Gallery.