Yellow pot plant replaces Fitzroy’s controversial banana sculpture

A controversial banana artwork is on a slippery slope to oblivion after being removed from its plinth.

The City of Yarra splashed $22,000 on the menacing big banana sculpture. Picture: Alex Coppel

Fitzroy’s controversial banana art has gone, probably never to return, and replaced by a “plant installation’’ instead.

The unusual sculpture with a skull carved into it was attacked within days of its installation in November.

A man tried “decapitate” it with a hacksaw late at night, police said. It was later removed by council officers.

Now a pot, yellow of course, has been located on the same plinth in Rose St.

The peeling banana sculpture on Rose St divided public opinion. Picture: Alex Coppel.

The plant installation is now in its place. Picture: Supplied

The new installation, created by Collingwood business The Plant Society, was put in place during the Garden State Festival which celebrated gardening as an art form and the role plants play in today’s world.

As for the banana, prophetically called Fallen Fruit, it’s now tucked away in Yarra Council storage.

“Officers are investigating options and no decisions have yet been made about whether and how it might be reinstated,’’ a council spokeswoman said.

One resident wondered why the plant pot was painted yellow.

“Are they trying to be ridiculed?’’ he said.

A yellow plant pot has been installed on the same plinth as the original artwork.

The banana, which divided opinion on its artistic merits, had been installed as part of the conversion of Rose St, which also features a painted mural on the road.

Yarra council received $100,000 in grants from the TAC and spent $22,000 on the sculpture.

The TAC was not involved in the selection of the artwork.

Artist Adam Stone said his creation aimed to represent the overconfidence in Western society’s approach to the climate and natural resources.

“This is a very small budget compared to what councils spend on other projects and consulting for those projects,” he said last November.

“The production budget provided a public artwork as well as employment for a professional painter, artist’s assistant, engineer and local concrete contractor, all of whom were sole traders.

“My ambition was to create a sculpture people of all different backgrounds could enjoy.”