David Maupin opened Lehmann Maupin Gallery in Soho with Rachel Lehmann in October 1996. Before opening the Lehmann Maupin Gallery David was the director of Metro Pictures.

The Lehmann Maupin Gallery has organized and curated exhibitions for numerous international contemporary artists working in all media. The gallery has given a number of important artists their first one-person exhibitions in New York, including Kutlug Ataman

Kutlug Ataman

Kutluğ Ataman is a filmmaker and contemporary artist. He lives in Istanbul.-Life and career:Kutluğ Ataman received his school education in Istanbul before doing his university studies in the US. His interest in film started an early age, and led him to do film studies at UCLA where he graduated...

, Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin

Tracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....

, Anya Gallaccio

Anya Gallaccio

Anya Gallaccio is a Scottish artist, who often works with organic matter. She was a nominee in the 2003 Turner Prize.-Life and career:...

, Shirazeh Houshiary

Shirazeh Houshiary

Shirazeh Houshiary is an Iranian installation artist and sculptor. She is a former Turner Prize nominee, and lives and works in London.-Life and work:Shirazeh Houshiary left her native country of Iran in 1973...

, Do-Ho Suh

Do-Ho Suh

-Early life and career:He was born in Seoul, Korea in 1962. After earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Oriental Painting from Seoul National University, and fulfilling his term of mandatory service in the South Korean military, Suh relocated to the United States to continue...

, and Adriana Varejão

Adriana Varejao

Adriana Varejão is a Brazilian artist. She works in various disciplines including painting, sculpture, installation and photography.Born in 1964, Varejão lives and works in Rio de Janeiro and is one of Brazil's leading contemporary artists. References to the effects of colonialism are apparent in...

. In addition, the gallery has exposed emerging talents, such as Suling Wang

Suling Wang

Suling Wang born in 1968, is an internationally recognized painter and contemporary artist, known predominantly for her large scale abstract works. She currently lives and works in London, UK.- Biography :...

, Teresita Fernandez

Teresita Fernandez

Teresita Fernández is a contemporary sculptor and artist based in New York. A recipient of the 2005 MacArthur Foundation "Genius Fellowship", Fernández's work is characterized by an interest in perception and the psychology of looking. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003 and the Louis...

 and the Japanese artist Mr., through exhibitions at the gallery and participations in select art fairs. The gallery program includes important established artists such as Ashley Bickerton

Ashley Bickerton

Ashley Bickerton is a contemporary artist living in Bali. A mixed-media artist, Bickerton often combines both photographic and painterly elements with industrial and found object assemblages...

, Gilbert & George, and Tony Oursler

Tony Oursler

Tony Oursler is a multimedia and installation artist.- Tapes, Installations: 1977-1989:Tony Oursler is known for his fractured-narrative handmade video tapes including The Loner, 1980 and EVOL 1984. These works involve elaborate sound tracks, painted sets, stop-action animation and optical special...

. In September 2002 the gallery moved to Chelsea. A second New York gallery space at 201 Chrystie Street opened in November 2007.

David Maupin's partner is Stefano Tonchi

Stefano Tonchi

Stefano Tonchi is the editor of W. He was previously editor of T: The New York Times Style Magazine. Having previously worked at Esquire and L'Uomo Vogue, Tonchi's editorial roots are in what he calls "niche" publications, he revealed in a 2007 interview in 032c magazine...

, the style editor of T: The New York Times Style Magazine.