Yuki Kimura

Jenny’s is pleased to present a new installation, Des Treize, by Kyoto-based Yuki Kimura. The exhibition is concurrent with Kimura’s solo exhibition at Midway Contemporary Art in Minneapolis.

In the center of the gallery, a solitary transparent sphere slowly navigates around the floor in a circle. This work is a companion piece to a group of twelve spheres which are currently on view at Midway. Stored for years in a surplus warehouse in Minnesota, these thirteen mundane Plexiglas forms were gathered together by Kimura into a comedic choreography. The title is borrowed from Honoré Balzac’s three short novels, Histoire des Treize, depicting a secret society of thirteen men.

While Kimura has consistently used found objects and images in her exhibitions, this is her first time incorporating kinetic energy. In collaboration with a group of students in Minneapolis, these robotic devices were developed as prototypes —motorized air-filled spheres— meant to alternate between circulating randomly and organizing into formations.

On opposing walls of the gallery are two lenticular prints, each composed of three unique images of a rough seascape. The original images are Kodak C-prints made in August 1977, found by the artist in the United States in the early 2000s. As the viewer passes by the prints in either direction, the waves ebb and flow, creating the illusion of motion.

Special thanks to Taka Ishii Gallery, Midway Contemporary Art, and Amelia Dyrstad, Jackson Goodrich, Caleb Li, Calvin Mumma, and Ben Lampe-McCoy of Breck School’s Robotics program for their partnership in realizing this exhibition.

Yuki Kimura lives and works in Kyoto, Japan. Kimura has presented recent solo exhibitions at Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris (2024); Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen-Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (2022); Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo (2019); Jenny’s, Los Angeles (2019); Oracle, Berlin (2018); and CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco (2016). Her work has been included in many group exhibitions, including Fake Barn Country, Raven Row, London (2025); Mimesis, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin (2023); Paradis, Maison R&C, Marseille (2021); Danica Barboza, Jason Hirata, Yuki Kimura, Duane Linklater, Artists Space, New York (2019); and is in the permanent collections of Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Aichi; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco; Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo; The National Museum of Art, Osaka; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Kimura is a Professor in the Department of Fine Arts (Concept and Media Planning) at the Kyoto City University of Arts in Kyoto, Japan. This is Kimura’s second solo exhibition with the gallery.