Bordaloo II: a talented Portuguese artist you’ll love

If there’s one Portuguese artist I recommend you discover, it’s Bordalo II. A young artist who transforms garbage into works of art and exhibits them on the walls of buildings in the streets.

Today, I’d like to tell you a little more about this artist, and present you with a tour of 10 of his works that you can discover in Lisbon.

Who is the artist Bordaloo II?

Arthur Bordalo is a young Portuguese artist born in Lisbon in 1987. Arthur Bordalo is known as Bordalo Segundo or Bordalo II.

“Bordalo” is his surname, to which he has added “segundo” meaning “second” (often displayed as “II” in Roman numerals), in honor of his grandfather, Real Bordalo, also a painter.

He started out as a street artist, doing graffiti in Lisbon’s subterranean streets. He then entered the Portuguese capital’s Beaux Arts, and since 2013 has been working as a full-time artist, having succeeded in establishing himself in the very closed art world thanks to his singular, recognizable works.

Work by Portuguese artist Bordaloo II: the bear.

A Portuguese artist with different, committed works

Bordaloo II is proving himself to be a street art genius, with his original, different and highly committed works:

• “Original and different” because of their appearance : his works are huge sculptures. Always animals, and very colorful. The works are made from garbage, and are mostly exhibited on the walls of buildings around the world. His works are known as “trash animals”.
• “Committed” because of the strong message conveyed by his works : Bordalo II wishes to spread a strong message through his sculptures, and thus raise awareness among the younger generation of the damaging effects of plastic. The Portuguese artist has a deep-seated desire to encourage young people to change things little by little. He denounces over-consumption, pollution, globalization… and communicates his fears and awareness of global warming, deforestation, water shortages… all of which contribute to the destruction of flora and fauna.

Creating these immense works of art depicting animals enables Bordalo II to highlight the fact that the first victims of our over-consumption of plastic are animals. It’s a way for him to breathe new life into these endangered and endangered animals. In a way, he aims to give life back to animals by recycling what kills them: plastic.

Work by Portuguese artist Bordalo II: the frog.

How does this Portuguese artist create his work?

Bordalo II’s magnificent works are created in a number of stages:

• step 1: Bordalo II chooses an animal that relates to the place where it will be hung, often an endangered animal due to pollution or globalization.
• step 2 : Bordalo II collects the waste for his work from local dumps, streets and beaches. The garbage used is made up of various types of plastic: bumpers, broken garbage cans, toys, packaging, bottles, etc
• stage 3 : Bordalo II created. He’ll play with the collected garbage. He’ll bend, cut and shape them to create the 3D animal he’s imagined.
• step 4 : Once the sculpture is complete, he paints it with the bright colors that are the signature of this incredible Portuguese artist.

Pollution on the beaches

Where can you see the works of this Portuguese artist in Lisbon?

Today, there are over 200 works by Portuguese artist Bordalo II scattered across 23 countries worldwide, representing 60 tonnes of used plastic waste. The works can be found all over the world: from Bora Bora to Miami, Las Vegas in the USA and Pattaya in Thailand, as well as São Paulo in Brazil and Santiago in Chile..

10 works by Portuguese artist Bordalo II located in Lisbon.

But let’s not forget: Bordalo II is a Portuguese artist, so many of his works are located in Portugal, and in particular in Lisbon, his native city. The Portuguese capital is adorned with numerous creations by the Portuguese artist Bordalo II. Here are just a few of them and their locations:

1. The lynx, located in Parque das Nações, behind the Vasco de Gama shopping mall (to be installed in 2019)
2. The bee, at the entrance to the famous “Lx Factory” in the Alcantara district (installed in 2016)
3. The raccoon, located on Rua Bartolomeu Dias in the unmissable Belém district,
4. The two pelicans, one of his last works in Lisbon, located at the foot of the famous Santa Justa elevator (corner of rua do carmo and rua Santa justa) in the lively Bairro Alto district (installed in 2021)
5. Le chimpanzé, located at 49 rua de Xabregas, which is also Bordalo II’s studio. It’s in the heart of the Beato district, Lisbon’s fast-developing industrial district (installed in 2017).
6. Le renard, located on the avenida 24 de Julho, between the Cais do Sodré and Santos districts, not far from the famous Time Out Market mentioned in my article “4 markets in Portugal” (installed in 2017)
7. La grenouille, rua da manutenção, also in the Beato district, not far from the chimpanzee (installed in 2018)
8. The bear, in the garden of the “Fundacão Calouste Gulbenkian” museum (installed in 2018)
9. The dragonfly, behind the 1908 Lisboa Hotel, not far from the legendary Cerveijaria Ramiro restaurant and Martim Moniz square
10. Le chien, between avenida infante Dom Henrique and Passeio do Baltico

Map showing the location of 10 works by Portuguese artist Bordalo II in Lisbon.

In conclusion

You now know almost everything about this Portuguese artist and his works in Lisbon. The beauty of Bordalo II’s work and the message he delivers through it make this Portuguese artist different and endearing.

Please let me know in the comments if you’ve already seen any of Bordalo II’s work, and which ones you’d like to see in the future?

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