Region Free : Reloaded

Tokio Kuniyoshi

CONTRAST is pleased to present “Region Free: Reloaded,” a solo exhibition by New York–based photographer Tokio Kuniyoshi, on view from November 29, Saturday, to December 7, Sunday. This exhibition explores the intersection between Kuniyoshi’s “roots”—deeply connected to the culture and natural materials of Okinawa—and the “perspective” he has cultivated through his life and practice in New York. The title “Region Free” embodies the artist’s desire to see the world with an open, borderless mindset, beyond the boundaries of place and culture. At the core of Kuniyoshi’s work lies Ryukyu limestone, a natural material unique to Okinawa. By engaging with its distinct texture, fragility, and layered sense of time, and by overlapping it with the sensibilities of his second home, New York, he reconnects his origins with his present self. Within Ryukyu limestone rest crystals and fossils formed over thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. Though often deemed too fragile for construction use and discarded at factories, Kuniyoshi finds true value precisely in this fragility. For him, what is easily overlooked contains traces of time and the cycles of nature—quietly revealing a refined sense of wabi-sabi. “Region Free: Reloaded” builds upon Kuniyoshi’s solo exhibition “Region Free,” held in Okinawa from December 2024 to March 2025. While serving as a continuation, this evolved version presents new and experimental photographic works that reframe the themes of Okinawa and New York through a renewed lens. ー Date: 11/29(Sat) - 12/7(Sun) Time: 12:00 - 19:00 (until 18:00 on the last day) Opening Party: 11/28(Fri) 18:00 - 21:00 Closing Party: 12/7(Sun) 15:00 - 18:00 Venue: CONTRAST Entrance: Free Support: Kobundo Communications Co., Ltd., IN FOCUS Inc., SMS Richie Co., Ltd., Mizuhoshuzo, and OneSpirit Co., Ltd.