Elisabeth Pointon
There are many ways of being an artist. Elisabeth Pointon’s preferred mode is “double agent.” The playful surfaces of her artworks disarm us while she smuggles in some other message.
Elisabeth Pointon is a contemporary artist. Born in 1992, she lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington.
Elisabeth is best known for her event-based and sculptural works, which centre on text, and references her former career at a luxury car dealership. Pointon riffs on physical advertising devices, such as banners, blimps, and flailing tube men. The phrases she favours—‘BIG DEAL.’, ‘SPECTACULAR.’, ‘PHENOMENAL.’—are the ebullient language of sales floors. She embraces slipperiness, but also retains a keen interest in the potential of collective understanding and action.
An important element of Elisabeth’s practice is institutional critique. She responds to the failings or limitations of galleries, gallerists, and curators in ways pointed and subtle. As a queer woman of colour, she recognises that artists like her are still shown relatively seldom by public institutions, and are constantly at risk of being side-lined or tokenised. She creates works that are bold and outlandishly grand, seizing opportunities to occupy the most space that she can.
You can choose not to take Elisabeth seriously, but that’s on you. Do so at your own risk. Like the court fools in Shakespeare’s plays—who exercise the privilege of speaking truth to power as well as entertaining—Elisabeth makes the most of her comic dispensation. She cultivates fun, only to cut it with a dash of critique. She opens your mouth with laughter, only to slip something serious in. Tragedy and comedy in equal parts; humour balanced by absolute sincerity.
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A GOOD WAY TO MEET GOD, 2024View more details
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Even if it is a blank object, it is still an object., 2024View more details
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HEAVENLY IDEALS, 2024View more details
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NO EARTHLY PURPOSE, 2024View more details
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Just saying., 2023View more details
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Not wrong., 2023View more details
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THIS IS ELITE EXPOSURE., 2022View more details
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PARADISE., 2021View more details
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Portrait of Blue Pool Noodle (Just Beautiful), 2021View more details
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Portrait of the Icon Crystal, 2021View more details
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Portrait of Yellow Pool Noodle (Just Wonderful), 2021View more details
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TAKE CARE, 2021View more details
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THERE IS AN ARTWORK IN ALL OF THIS (light). , 2021View more details
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THERE IS AN ARTWORK IN ALL OF THIS. , 2021View more details
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WHOEVER., 2021View more details
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WORTH IT., 2021View more details
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BIG DEAL., 2020View more details
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BIG TIME., 2020View more details
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MADE YOU LOOK, 2020View more details
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OUTSTANDING., 2020View more details
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PHENOMENAL., 2020View more details
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SPECTACULAR, 2020View more details
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WHERE TO FROM HERE, 2020View more details
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YOU HAVE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE., 2020View more details
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Win Big., 2019View more details
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Big deal., 2018View more details
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The Mongoose and the Snake, Dr. Gwyn Easterbrook-Smith, Robbie Handcock, Kane Laing, Elisabeth Pointon, John Sturgess
4 - 27 Jul 2024Jhana Millers presents a new group exhibition The Mongoose and the Snake, curated by Elisabeth Pointon and featuring work by Dr. Gwyn Easterbrook-Smith, Robbie Handcock, Kane Laing, Elisabeth Pointon, and John Sturgess.Read more
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Editions
9 May - 1 Jun 2024Jhana Millers is pleased to present their first print exhibition featuring a group of represented artists.Read more -
FIVE
7 - 29 Jul 2023Jhana Millers is pleased to present a group exhibition of work by the gallery's represented artists to celebrate the gallery's 5th anniversaryRead more -
Summer Selection
25 Jan - 11 Feb 2023Jhana Millers reopens for 2023 with a selection of works by gallery artists.Read more -
Self by Others, Ayesha Green, Elisabeth Pointon, Christopher Ulutupu, Claudia Kogachi, Caitlin Devoy, Robbie Handcock
1 - 18 Dec 2021Group Exhibition, Self by Others. Exhibition at Jhana Millers Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, Aotearoa New ZealandRead more -
Elisabeth Pointon, THERE IS AN ARTWORK IN ALL OF THIS. TENT Art Weekend.
4 - 7 Nov 2021Elisabeth Pointon, THERE IS AN ARTWORK IN ALL OF THIS. TENT Art Weekend. Exhibition at Jhana Millers Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand.Read more -
Group Exhibition, THE BIG THREE
9 - 31 Jul 2021Group Exhibition, THE BIG THREE. Exhibition at Jhana Millers Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, Aotearoa New ZealandRead more -
Auckland Art Fair, The Right Place?
24 - 28 Feb 2021Auckland Art Fair, The Right Place?. Exhibition at Jhana Millers Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, Aotearoa New ZealandRead more -
Elisabeth Pointon, WHERE TO FROM HERE
10 Sep - 3 Oct 2020Elisabeth Pointon, WHERE TO FROM HERE. Exhibition at Jhana Millers Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, Aotearoa New ZealandRead more -
Group Exhibition, ONE
15 - 27 Jul 2019Group exhibition, ONE. Exhibition at Jhana Millers Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, Aotearoa New ZealandRead more
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The Gates, Inaugural Exhibition
7 Jul - 4 Aug 2018Group Exhibition, The Gates. Exhibition at Jhana Millers Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, Aotearoa New ZealandRead more
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Representation and Humour in South Asian Aotearoa Art
Dilohana Lekamge, Extended Conversations -
The work of Elisabeth Pointon
Melanie Oliver, Christchurch Art Gallery -
Artists share central Wellington loft flat with a creative kaupapa
Joanna Davis, Stuff, January 23, 2022 -
Elisabeth Pointon’s Giant, Playful Text Works Challenge The Way We Understand Language
Ginny Fisher, Viva magazine, March 5, 2021 -
Elisabeth Pointon, Where To From Here
Frances McWhannell, Exhibition Essay, September 10, 2020 -
Text me
ArtZone, June 30, 2020 -
Wellingtonians should watch the skies as artist’s aerial banner takes flight on Saturday
Kate Green, Stuff, June 24, 2020 -
The testimonial
Hamish Win, Circuit, December 1, 2019 -
The art of work: Invisible labour on show at Dowse Gallery’s The Future of Work
Mark Amery, The Spinoff, September 18, 2019 -
WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT.: In Conversation with Elisabeth Pointon
Robbie Handcock, HAINAMANA ASIAN NEW ZEALAND ART & CULTURE, March 14, 2019 -
WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT. A Congratulatory Thing
Robbie Handcock, Playstation, January 1, 2019 -
Worth your while: A conversation with Elisabeth Pointon
Dilohana Lekamge and Laura Duffy, Circuit, October 1, 2018 -
At the still point
Elisabeth Pointon, Enjoy Public Art Gallery, July 1, 2016