Gloria Klein was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1936. Klein recalled her father's career as a wallpaper hanger among his early influences. She would judge whether the enamel paint that her father mixed matched the wallpaper's exact hue.

Her adult education began with a B.A. in Economics at the Brooklyn College, City University of New York (1959). Then she attended the Brooklyn Museum School of Art (1959 – 1960). In 1962 and 1968, she attended the Art Students League in New York. After that, from 1969 to 1970, she studied with Evsa Model (1969-1970) for a year. Then, in 1970 she enrolled at Hunter College, University of New York, where she took classes with Conceptual artist Robert Barry (1970-1973). Finally, in 1973 she obtained an M.A. in art from Hunter College. At Hunter College, she also studied with artist Robert Swain.

Klein is considered a founding member of the Pattern and Decoration movement and a member of the Criss-Cross art cooperative. She started exhibiting in 1970, and her first recorded exhibition was a group show at Artists of the Region, East Hampton, NY. Her first solo exhibition was in 1972 in the same place. After that, she had two more solo exhibitions during the seventies: Ten Downtown Series, New York, NY, in 1975; and one in 1979.

During the same decade, she participated in many collectives shows, Artists of the Region, East Hampton, NY (1971); Group Show, Hunter College, New York, NY (1973); in 1974 Group Show, Hansen Galleries, New York, NY and Stratton Arts Festival Exhibition, Stratton, VT (September 21 – October 20). In 1975: Group Exhibition, Walker Street Gallery, New York, NY (April 5 – May 15); Women Artists of 1975, Hansen Galleries, New York, NY (September 19 – Oct.12); Works on Paper – Women Artists, The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (September 24 – November 9); and a Group Show, at Hansen Galleries, New York, NY. In 1976 she participated in two group shows, Contemporary Reflections at The Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT; and New York Artists, at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Madison, WI.

1986 continued the same tonic, and she had a solo exhibition at the Hudson Gallery, New York, NY; and two collectives: Frames of Reference: Contemporary Abstract Painting & Sculpture, Todd Capp Gallery, New York, NY (April 18 – May 4); and New Paintings by Gloria Klein, Beatrice Riese, and Adrianne Wortzel, Hudson Gallery, New York, NY (May 9 – June 7).

The following two years were quiet, and she participated in a collective show each one: in 1988, The Summer Exhibition 1988: Twenty-Two Artists, Michael Walls Gallery, New York, NY (Aug. 10 – 27); and in 1989 NY Kendall Gallery Art Show, in Kobe, Japan.

She didn't have solo exhibitions during the ninety's decade but participated in a few collectives. Her work picked the interest of gallerists and art critics again in the late nineties and the early two thousand. In 1993 her work was included in Over 100 Artists…, Gallery 128, New York, NY (December 1, 1993 – January 8, 1994). In 1994 Group Exhibition, Gallery 128, New York, NY (May 11 – 28); Measure for Measure, Gallery 128, New York, NY (July 9 – 30); and Signing, Gallery 128, New York, NY (January 15 – February 19). Only one in 1995: Kakejiku: Scrolling in New York, Gallery 128, New York, NY (May 5 – June 1995).

However, from 1996 the frequency of group shows increased, and she had four exhibitions: Group Exhibition, Gallery 128, New York, NY (January 19 – February 17); Kakejiku: Scrolling in New York, Gallery Kawafune, Tokyo, Japan (January 22 – February 3); Women Draw, Gallery 128, New York, NY (April 24 – May 25); and Friends, Gallery 128, New York, NY (Dec. 1 – 21).

In 1997 she also participated in four group exhibitions: Material Girls: Gender, Process, and Abstract Art Since 1970, Gallery 128, New York, NY (October 1 – November 1); Generation, A.I.R., New York, NY (October 21 – November 15); N.Y. X Japan, Gallery Guute, Hiroshima and Gallery Marya, Osaka, Japan (Aug. 7 – 28); and Pieces, Gallery 128, New York, NY (July 1 – 31).