The gallery programme began in 1984 in a Victorian terraced house in London’s East End. Initially named Interim Art, the gallery changed its name to Maureen Paley in 2004 to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Since September 1999, the gallery has been situated in industrial spaces in Bethnal Green. Maureen Paley opened a location in Hove called Morena di Luna in 2017. Studio M was opened in the Rochelle School in Shoreditch and operated from 2020 to 2026. Most recently in 2025, the gallery opened a new space in Bethnal Green at 4 Herald Street to expand its exhibition footprint. From its inception, Maureen Paley's aim has remained consistent: to promote great and innovative artists in all media.

Maureen Paley was one of the first to present contemporary art in London’s East End and has pioneered the current scene by promoting and showing a diverse range of international artists. 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. Maureen Paley was 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 Master's at The Royal College of Art.

Alongside directing the gallery, Maureen Paley has curated a number of large-scale public exhibitions. In 1994 she organised a show of works by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Joseph Kosuth, and Ad Reinhardt at the Camden Arts Centre. The following year, Wall to Wall was presented as part of the Arts Council of Great Britain’s National Touring Exhibitions programme, appearing at the Serpentine Gallery in London, Southampton City Art Gallery, and Leeds City Art Gallery. The exhibition featured wall drawings by international artists including Daniel Buren, Michael Craig-Martin, Douglas Gordon, Barbara Kruger, Sol LeWitt, and Lawrence Weiner.