Born in Israel in 1979, Niv Bornstein studied at the Beit Berl College of Art. His love of drawing and the knowledge that painting was his instrument of expression and self-fulfillment, began at a very young age. Niv’s education as a child began with the comics of Uri Fink (Zabang), and allowed him to tell his story and immerse himself in the world of art. Niv develops a picturesque manuscript in which he builds a narrative connected by old and new images in a personal and associative composition to tell a story. His working theory is that the current viewer is impatient and accustomed to text messages, or more correctly, in 140 characters or less. His work and his desire to convey social and personal messages, inspires use of imagery that blends fundamental memories together with the mysterious. Niv's works are characterized by a large variety of images taken from different visual worlds of pop culture (ie. Facebook, Pornography, Japanese Manga, etc.) Children's legends, scientific illustrations, small drawings and numbers are an important part of the artist’s raw material. By reorganizing and combining images, Niv’s paintings require slow interpretation, as a new visual text is created as a kind of puzzle or crossword the spectator has to interpret. This new text tells a personal story, while simultaneously portraying a social picture of today's Israeli existence.

The use of paintings as writing is associated with ancient languages. A map without a key is, in fact and theoretically, a meaningless painting. Just as the text and icons carry messages to provide meaning and give purpose, the symbols and images used do not give an absolute solution, but vary with each observer, becoming associative and memory challenges. Niv currently works and lives in Tel Aviv and his artwork can be found in many collections in Israel and abroad.

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