OK Harris Gallery
| Company type | Art gallery |
|---|---|
| Industry | Art exhibition |
| Founded | October 1969 |
| Founder | Ivan Karp |
| Defunct | 2014 |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | SoHo, New York City |
| Products | Contemporary art, photography, antiques, collectibles |
The OK Harris Gallery was an art exhibition space situated at 383 West Broadway in SoHo, New York City, which operated from its establishment in October 1969 until it closed in 2014. The gallery was created by experienced art dealer Ivan Karp after his departure from the Leo Castelli gallery, where he had served as co-director for nearly ten years. OK Harris stood as one of the pioneering galleries in the then-developing SoHo art district.
Initially located at 465 West Broadway, the gallery presented works by both emerging talents and well-known artists throughout the early 1970s.
History
Ivan C. Karp, who held the position of co-director at the Leo Castelli Gallery between 1959 and 1969, launched OK Harris in SoHo in 1969. The gallery's name, "OK Harris," was inspired by the image of an American riverboat gambler. Following Paula Cooper as the second gallery on West Broadway, OK Harris significantly contributed to developing SoHo into a major center for fine arts.
As a forerunner in the Photorealism movement, OK Harris was among the earliest venues to present artists including Duane Hanson, Deborah Butterfield, Manny Farber, Richard Pettibone, Robert Cottingham, Robert Bechtle, Marilyn Levine, Nancy Rubins, Malcolm Morley, and Luis Jiminez, among others.
Focusing primarily on contemporary art and photography, the gallery also occasionally exhibited antiques and collectible items. Its large 8,000-square-foot facility allowed it to host up to five solo exhibitions simultaneously each year. OK Harris kept an extensive photographic record of its exhibitions, which remains available for scholarly research.
During the early 1970s, the gallery showcased exhibitions by Alan Vega under the title "Punk Music," preceding the emergence of the later Punk rock genre.