Instagrammable entry point to wronged artist

The eggplant, or aubergine or brinjal, has always been a fruit with many names.

- Clement Yong

But does it smell sweet? One might be forgiven for thinking so at the National Gallery Singapore, with so many visitors hovering their noses so close to its rotting flesh.

The purplish protuberances were part of a commissioned work created by Australia-based Singapore artist Suzann Victor, once sidelined but in fresh vogue in 2025.

Titled Still Life, the 200 eggplants were catnip not just for Instagram but also gallery thieves. In August, they made headlines after some were found to be missing, prompting NGS to set up signage warning visitors against touching the wall-mounted commentary on drooping, futile masculinity.

It is not the first time Victor has found herself at the centre of an art cause celebre. The work itself is an expansion on her 1992 piece, where she also stuck 100 brinjals outside Parkway Parade to get workers trudging to the office in the morning to "wake up".

The gradual decomposition is the point, its phallic connotations pre-dating the eggplant emoji.