ADF (NPO Aoyama Design Forum) is pleased to present "The Garden of Lights", the 36th exhibition of the "ADF Art Gallery Project" by artist Akira Inumaru, from 10 to 22 October 2025 at GARDE Gallery at Omotesando, Tokyo.


What would light feel like if it were a tangible substance?
If we could grasp it in our hands, smear it like paint, or let it seep into paper, then perhaps the light that exists here and now could be preserved like a specimen and shared with others.

When I look at plants, I imagine the sunlight absorbed by their leaves, stored within their bodies, leaving behind traces of light that remain there as material substance.

Inumaru engages with the vast and universal theme of "light" through painting, drawing, performance, and installation, approaching it as if "light = a substance that can be touched." In recent years, the artist has focused mainly on two series: one of drawings in which parts of works on paper are scorched by sunlight through a magnifying glass, and another of paintings created by equating "color = light," imagining pigments as "powdered light" and the paints—made by mixing these pigments with acrylic resin—as "light paste."

Light often brings positive associations—life, hope, knowledge—but at the same time, an excess of light has the power to take life, destroy, and cause materials to deteriorate. This exhibition expresses that intense energy of "light" through the artist’s works.

This exhibition marks Inumaru’s first solo show in Japan since moving to France in 2008. It is an attempt to share the experiences of light perceived over 18 years of life in France.

Akira Inumaru
Born in 1984 in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture
2008 Completed Master’s Program in Oil Painting, Musashino Art University
2013 Completed Master Class at École Supérieure d’Art et Design Le Havre–Rouen
Currently based in Rouen and Paris, France

Major solo exhibitions
2024 “Chambres ardentes”, Church of Saint-Maclou (Rouen/France)
2023 “Mon Cher Jardin”, Château de Villandry (Villandry/France)
2022 “Cimes et Racines”, Church of Saint-Ouen (Rouen/France)
2018 “Botanique”, Greenhouse in the Luxembourg Garden (Paris/France)
2018 “Langage des fleurs”, MOCAK Museum of Modern Art (Krakow/Waves)
2015 “Kata -D’une lumière à l’autre”, Yves Klein Archives (Paris/France)

Major group exhibitions
2021 “Star Makers”, Foro Boario Contemporary Art Center (Oristano/Italy)
2013 “Tatsuno Art Project 2013”, Museum of soy sauce Higashimaru (Tatsuno)

"The Garden of Lights" by Akira Inumaru
Dates: 10 to 22 October, 2025
Hours: 11:00〜18:00
Venue: GARDE Gallery
Closed: October 18 (Sat), Sundays, and holidays
URL: https://www.art-adf.jp/?sl=en