Nurit David

The Artist’s profile

Nurit David is an Israeli painter and art educator known for her significant contributions to contemporary Israeli art. Born in 1952 in Tel Aviv, she has been an influential figure in the art scene since the 1980s. David holds a deep reverence for historical art, drawing significant inspiration from Japanese and Chinese cultures, where the distinction between art and craft is blurred.

Around 2015, her practice expanded beyond painting, which had previously defined her work. This shift was influenced by her exploration of vector graphics software, a cutting plotter, an archival pigment printer, and a sewing machine—tools she embraced at the scale of an amateur craftsman. Her studio transformed into a workshop, a miniature factory producing not only paintings but also works linked to the concept of clothing, beginning with her series ‘Nobody’s Clothing’ in 2017.

Her collection ‘Clothing for Someone’ is a limited-edition series of wearable art that allows paintings to venture into three dimensions, becoming objects in space and time. In this paradoxical process, the work “gets out there into the real world”, while remaining grounded in its original medium.

The triggers to become an artist

Honestly speaking, mentally I was unable to do anything other than art. I actually cannot see any other reason for living. Art was not a choice but a default. During the last 45 years my life gradually became one with my art, absorbed by it, leaving no residue. Art as I see it has the exactly right equilibrium between the imaginary and the real, fantasy and reason, outside and inside, freedom and discipline.

Art as I see it has the exactly right equilibrium between the imaginary and the real, fantasy and reason, outside and inside, freedom and discipline.
Nurit David

Environmental Concern

As an independent artist, Nurit David has made it a rule to produce her samples using only the equipment, methods, and skills available in her small studio, ensuring a highly personal, hands-on approach to each piece. She collaborates with a UK-based printing company to multiply the clothing. David’s practice focuses on creating unique works rather than mass production, reducing waste and minimising her environmental impact.

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Nurit David, born 1952 in Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Education & Activities

2002 – 2006 teacher of painting at Bezalel Academy Art Department

1986 – 2007 teacher of painting in the same institute (now Beit-Berl College School of Art).

since 1982 works with Givon Gallery, Tel-Aviv.

1975 – 1978 Studies at Art Teachers’ Training College, Ramat-Hasharon.

A selection of my exhibitions and group exhibitions are; 2024 “Tomb” Givon art gallery Tel Aviv / 2023 Museum Bar-David joint exhibition with Yitzhak Golombek / 2022 “Material imagination” Tel Aviv Museum of Art / 2022 “Ibn Gabirol Bau” Winter version” Givon Art Forum Tel Aviv / 2021 “Ibn Gabirol Bau” Beit Uri and Rami Nehoshtan Museum / 2017 “Nobody’s Clothing / An Outline for a Business” Givon Gallery / 2015 “Two Cities, the same Island” Haifa Museum of Art / 2007 “I was born Chinese” Tel-Aviv Museum of Art (catalogue) / 2005 “Die Neue Hebraer” Gropius Bau Berlin / 2001 “Landscapes” Herzliya Museum of Art / 1998 “After Rabin – New Art from Israel” Jewish Museum New-York. / 1998 “Good Children, Bad Children” Israel Museum Jerusalem. / 1994 “Memories of/for the Future” Sagacho Exhibit Space, Tokyo. / 1993 “Makom” Contemporary art from Israel in The Museum of Modern Art, Vienna. / 1992 “Routes of Wandering” Israel Museum Jerusalem. / 1992 “Einblick-Ausblick” Young Artists from Israel in Leipzig, Bonn, Berlin. / 1991 The 21st. Biennial of San-Paolo Brazil. / 1987 “ABA” (Father) Israel Museum Jerusalem. / 1986 “The Want of Matter as a Quality in Israeli Art” Tel-Aviv Museum of Art.