Maureen Paley (born in New York) studied at Sarah Lawrence College and graduated from Brown University before coming to the UK in 1977 where she completed her Masters at The Royal College of Art from 1978–80. She was one of the first to present contemporary art in London’s East End and has been a pioneer of the current scene, promoting and showing a diverse range of international artists within her galleries. Founded in 1984 in a Victorian terraced house in London’s East End the gallery was initially named Interim Art and changed its name to Maureen Paley in 2004 as a celebration of its 20th anniversary. In July 2017 Maureen Paley opened a second space called Morena di Luna in Hove, East Sussex and a third space named Studio M in October 2020 located in Shoreditch, London. Gallery artists include Turner Prize winners Gillian Wearing, 1997; Wolfgang Tillmans, 2000 and Lawrence Abu Hamdan, 2019 as well as Turner Prize nominees Hannah Collins, 1993; Jane and Louise Wilson, 1999; Liam Gillick, 2002; Rebecca Warren, 2006; and Rory Pilgrim, 2023. New young artists including Felipe Baeza, Chioma Ebinama, Behrang Karimi and Rory Pilgrim have recently been added to the gallery programme.

Maureen Paley has also curated a number of large-scale public exhibitions. In 1994 she organised an exhibition of works by Felix Gonzales Torres, Joseph Kosuth and Ad Reinhardt at the Camden Arts Centre. In 1995 Wall to Wall was presented for the Arts Council GB National Touring Exhibitions and appeared at the Serpentine Gallery, London, Southampton City Art Gallery and Leeds City Art Gallery showing wall drawings by international artists including Daniel Buren, Michael Craig-Martin, Douglas Gordon, Barbara Kruger, Sol Lewitt, and Lawrence Weiner. Maureen Paley also selected an exhibition of work by young British artists in 1996 called The Cauldron featuring Christine Borland, Angela Bulloch, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Steven Pippin, Georgina Starr and Gillian Wearing for the Henry Moore Sculpture Trust which was installed in their Studio space in Dean Clough, Halifax.

Back to Speakers 2024