Les aubergines ecrasees 

Jean Messagier created "Les aubergines ecrasees" using brushstrokes of various shades of purple and green. The initial visual experience suggests an immediate tension between representation and abstraction, an interplay that's central to understanding its meaning. Messagier uses colour and form to challenge our perception of the familiar. The brushstrokes, far from merely depicting eggplants, seem to take on a life of their own, disrupting any stable interpretation. The composition destabilizes the conventional still life. Rather than a neat arrangement, we have a dynamic explosion of pigment. This interplay between representation and the abstract underscores a semiotic crisis, where signs no longer have fixed meanings. The semiotic system of signs we typically use to interpret art is challenged here. The brushstrokes function not just aesthetically but also as part of a larger cultural and philosophical discourse.