Maureen Paley

Bethnal Green, the area where Maureen Paley has her gallery.

In 1984, Paley began a gallery programme in her Victorian terraced house.[8] During the late 1980s, she exhibited examples of contemporary art by Tim Rollins and K.O.S., Sarah Charlesworth, Charles Ray, Mike Kelley, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Günther Förg.[9]

In the early 1990s, the gallery presented several exhibitions made by the burgeoning group of artists that were to become known as the YBAs—including, Henry Bond, Angela Bulloch and Liam Gillick.[2][10] For years she developed the careers of Gillian Wearing and Wolfgang Tillmans.[11]

She was called by Time Out "a true pioneer of the East End", having presented work there before it was fashionable.[12][13] For almost a decade, the gallery was supported by Arts Council grants and other patronage.[14]

In September 1999, the gallery moved to Herald Street in Bethnal Green,[15] occupying "a chic new industrial space."[11] Paley's base in the area was a precedent for leading galleries such as White Cube and Victoria Miro to also locate in the East End."[11]

Curated exhibitions

In 1994, Paley curated a show at Camden Arts Centre of work by Joseph Kosuth, Ad Reinhardt and Félix González-Torres.[15] In 1995, she presented Wall to Wall featuring wall drawings by artists including Daniel Buren, Michael Craig-Martin, Douglas Gordon, Barbara Kruger, Sol LeWitt, and Lawrence Weiner.[15] The National Touring Exhibitions show went to the Serpentine Gallery, London, Southampton City Art Gallery, and Leeds City Art Gallery.[15] In 1996, for the Henry Moore Sculpture Trust, Paley curated The Cauldron, an exhibition of work by Young British Artists—Christine Borland, Angela Bulloch, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Steven Pippin, Georgina Starr and Gillian Wearing.[15] It was installed in the Trust's studio space in Dean Clough, Halifax.[15]

In 2000, Paley staged The Agony and the Ecstasy, the first show of Rebecca Warren, who she met after Paley had given a talk at her art school.[16]

She said in 2001, "Being a tastemaker—someone who invents the future—requires a delicate balance. You need to be of your time—if you're too far ahead you'll be misunderstood."[11]

In 2004, the gallery's name was changed from Interim Art to Maureen Paley. In 2006, when asked why many women have been successful in contemporary art dealing, Paley said,

Art is one of the last unregulated markets. There are no male gatekeepers and you are not confined to traditional alpha-male values. That makes it very attractive to a certain type of woman with a strong personality, who wouldn't fit into a cookie-cutter working environment [...].[17]

The Turner Prize winner Wolfgang Tillmans, represented by Maureen Paley

Paley was one of the judges of New Sensations, a competition for art students promoted by Channel 4 and the Saatchi Gallery.[18] Jo Craven said in The Daily Telegraph that Paley was one of only five female gallery owners of note in London.[19]

In August 2009, reflecting on the legacy of the YBA art scene, Paley said, "The thing that came out of the YBA generation was boldness, a belief that you can do anything."[20]

In 2009, Paley was elected to the executive committee of the Society of London Art Dealers.[21]

In 2010, Paley was one of a group of art dealers including Sadie Coles who made up the selection committee for the Frieze Art Fair.[22] The gallery also takes part in Condo, an exhibition series where host galleries collaborate and share their spaces with visiting galleries.[3]

Paley was interviewed for the Art Agency, Partners podcast In Other Words[23] in 2020 and an episode ofTalk Art[24] in 2022. In 2023, she was invited to deliver the 15th annual Dasha Shenkman Lecture in Contemporary Art at the University of Guelph, Canada.[25]