There is something about these days that merges London’s gray February mornings with the distinctive industrial texture of Lisson Street. On the London floor of Apartment No:26, we open the windows to Marylebone’s misty air, yet inside a completely different climate reigns. The Japanese-born artist Leiko Ikemura invites us, with El Jardín Nocturno (The Night Garden), to disconnect from the noise of the city and step into the dim, magical corridors of the subconscious. This exhibition is not merely a visual feast; it is also a manifesto of earth, feminine energy, and cosmic silence. Running parallel to the artist’s major concurrent shows in Vienna and Los Angeles, this selection adds a mystical depth to the gallery’s “Landscope” theme—different perspectives on nature. If the “boiler room” in your mind has been running too hot lately, a cool breath in Ikemura’s night garden will do you good.
Energy Rising from the Earth: The Dance of Bronze and Stone
When you step onto the ground floor of the gallery, the floor beneath your feet transforms into a landscape of undulating green stone. Greeting us here is the monumental Rocket Girl (2024), standing both as a symbol of destructive forces and as a guardian protecting the cat-like Miko and Mikolina sculptures in the corner.
Ikemura’s bronzes appear raw and alive, as though they have just sprouted from the ancient energy of the earth. These figures, existing beyond gender and species, give the viewer the sensation of standing in a prehistoric era. When combined with the ink-dark lake scenes of the nearby Nightscape (2024) painting, the air on this floor grows even heavier—yet it is a weight that promises peaceful depth.
From Day to Night, from Canvas to Poem: Haiku Gardens
Ascending to the upper floor, the night garden gives way to the pink light of dawn. Canvases in rose tones filled with gestural brushstrokes draw the viewer into enchanted landscapes bathed in light. On this level, Ikemura’s visual world is accompanied by haiku poems written in her own hand. The dance of Japanese characters across the canvas transforms the landscapes from mere images into poems to be read.
Ikemura’s art is like the quiet rooms of an “apartment”: each corner hides a different emotion, each brushstroke conceals a different memory. It answers the coldness of modernism with the warmth of nature and poetry.
Exhibition Information
Artist: Leiko Ikemura
Exhibition Title: El Jardín Nocturno
Venue: Lisson Gallery (Lisson Street), London
Dates: February 18 – May 9, 2026
Highlights: Rocket Girl sculpture, Nightscape series, and canvases adorned with Japanese haiku.
Leiko Ikemura’s night garden is an unmissable stop for all residents of the apartment seeking an “oasis” amid London’s chaos.
