Dedicated Expansion

Ken Harman is Still Building

“It’s a group effort, right?” Ken Harman explained to Juxtapoz. “I’m dependent on my artists, my artists are dependent on me. I wouldn’t be able to do this without them, and I don’t want to leave them out of this conversation.” Harman is at the helm of the cult-followed Spoke Art Gallery, the fine art ambitious Hashimoto Contemporary, Paragon Books, The People’s Printshop, Recess, and countless other ventures in American art world. With the opening of his Los Angeles Hashimoto space, now his third city following San Francisco and New York, we spoke to Ken about the evolution of the market, why a good staff is essential, how Wes Anderson changed his life and why Los Angeles is a pivotal addition to his artists’ careers.

Evan Pricco: How should we start reflecting on 10 years or so of your journey as a gallery owner?

Ken Harman: Well, I don’t really get much time to reflect. But if I had a spare five minutes to sit down and not have to be busy, I’d start with maybe 13 years ago, when I first entered into all of this. Then I was 23 years old, just bagging groceries at Whole Foods in Oakland, California. I had really nothing going on, but here we are, over a decade later, and it’s a trip, man. It’s been a total wild ride, and a lot of just amazing, wonderful coincidences and lucky turns of fate.

EP: What’s interesting here is the concept of longevity in the art world. It’s difficult to maintain a pulse and to have the desire to maintain that pulse. I think what you probably have seen over your time is that you’ve had to change. People don’t understand that gallerists have to work really hard at keeping things going.