Born as Artur Bordalo in 1987 in Lisbon, Portugal, Bordalo II is a famous street artist. He got famous for using street garbage to create stunning animal sculptures. His idea is to warn people about pollution and all types of endangered species.
Considered a trash artist, he studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lisbon for eight years. There, he discovered sculpture, ceramics, and started experimenting with a variety of materials.
But his passion for painting dates back to his childhood days when he spend endless hours watching his grandfather painting in his studio.
Influenced by his grandfather, Bordalo started spray-painting walls in the streets at the age of 11. He then chose the name Bordalo II as a tribute to his grandfather, Artur Real Bordalo.
Nowadays, he creates sculptures from various discarded objects he can find around the city. Those include scrap, old tires, appliances, plastic stuff, aluminum cans, and many more.
Bordalo’s installations are focused on questioning the materialistic and consumerist society we live in. He aims to highlight the excessive production and consumption and how it results in tons of garbage.
He presents animals that are directly affected by the pollution and how that can lead to extinction. He says, “The idea is to depict nature itself, in this case, animals, out of materials that are responsible for its destruction”
He has created more than 200 animal sculptures since 2012. And he used more than 60t of reused materials for his installations. You can see his animal paintings all over Lisbon.
He is also famous for his Railway Series. For this one, he cleverly uses train tracks to make art.
Contents
- 1 1. Trash Puppy
- 2 2. Half Baby Wolverine
- 3 3. Mouse Lemur
- 4 4. Half Sloth
- 5 5. Half Raccoon
- 6 6. Half Hammerhead Shark
- 7 7. Snow Foxes
- 8 8. Mother Ostrich
- 9 9. Half Shark
- 10 10. Half Rabbit
- 11 11. Half Hermit Crab
- 12 12. Half Cougar
- 13 13. Plastic Jellyfish
- 14 14. Half White Mouse
- 15 15. Half Seals
- 16 16. Half Baby Squid
- 17 17. Half Panda
- 18 18. Half Cuervo Canario
- 19 19. Half Chimp
- 20 20. Eagle Plastic Eagle
- 21 21. Plastic Fish
- 22 22. Half Unicorn
- 23 23. Half Sea Turtle
- 24 24. Half Marten
- 25 25. Half Grasshopper
- 26 26. Half Buzzard
- 27 27. Red Squirrel
- 28 28. Plastic Bambi
- 29 29. Half Stork
- 30 30. Half Lion
- 31 31. Half Crab
- 32 32. Half Badger
- 33 33. Day Of The Elephants
- 34 34. Half Red Tailed Tropic Bird
- 35 35. Half Coyote
1. Trash Puppy
Puppies are cute and adorable. But what about stray dogs that we all pass by on the streets? What about puppies that live in the garbage and nobody sees them? Well, Bordalo does.
2. Half Baby Wolverine
This Wolverine is two sides of the same story. On one side, you have the melancholic and sad animal. And then on the other, colorful world.
3. Mouse Lemur
Lemurs got famous thanks to the Madagascar movie series. But it seems like we only love to watch them on TV, and sometimes in the zoo. We do not pay a lot of attention to these cute animals in the wild and their natural habitat.
4. Half Sloth
Sloths are known as slow and lazy animals. But there is a good reason for it. They are slow because that is how they can survive in the wild.
5. Half Raccoon
Here is another cute animal that got famous thanks to a movie or series, and then we forgot about him. Meeko the Raccoon was the star of the Pocahontas movie. We watched it some 20 years ago, and then we forgot all about raccoons.
6. Half Hammerhead Shark
Sharks might be dangerous and they eat fish. But that is the cycle of life. And by polluting the ocean and the sea, we destroy their natural habitat. And that is how we get thousands of sea animals dead on the shores.
7. Snow Foxes
Snow foxes are amazing animals. You can hardly find them in wildlife, but some zoos have them. And it is good that at least some zoos try to help their reproduction and prevent the species from dying.
8. Mother Ostrich
Just look how spectacular this Ostrich looks like. Her wings provide shelter and protection for her babies. But they also make this artwork amazing and prominent.
9. Half Shark
Here is another shark that Bordelo painted on the streets. Just look how happy these kids sit behind her. This shark might not be as scary, right?
10. Half Rabbit
We often say that rabbits reproduce like crazy. But while they reproduce, we also kill thousands of rabbits for food. Rabbit meat is a delicacy, and we do not care the price we pay for that.
11. Half Hermit Crab
There are more than 800 different species of hermit crabs. But some of them are endangered. For example, the Land Hermit Crab is now rare in Bermuda. The country made a protected species recovery plan for the crab.
12. Half Cougar
Cougars are animals that live in the wild jungle and prey on smaller animals. But with the way we destroy forest for timber, cougars lose their natural habitat.
13. Plastic Jellyfish
Nobody wants to touch a jellyfish. They can sting. But this painting shows just how miserable their life is as well. Jellyfish live in the ocean, and we constantly throw plastic there. These sea creatures can have their stomach full of plastic.
14. Half White Mouse
You wouldn’t think of a white mouse as an endangered species. Maybe, but they are species that we often use in laboratories for all kinds of research and studies.
15. Half Seals
Seals are some of the animals that we often feel sorry for. Their habitat, the ocean, is full of plastic. You can find loads of pictures of seals dead on the shores. And plastic all around them. That has to stop.
16. Half Baby Squid
As you can see by now, many of the endangered species on the painting by Bordalo are sea creatures. Why? Because the ocean is full of plastic. And that puts these animals in danger. Per some estimations, 8 million tons of plastic enter our ocean every year.
17. Half Panda
When you think of endangered species, the Panda is the poster child. It is one of the most endangered species in the world. Outside of captivity, there are only about 1,800 pandas out in the wild in China. And that is an extremely small number.
18. Half Cuervo Canario
This canary bird is native to Spain, Portugal, Tenerife, and South America. But it is also in danger because of loss of habitat.
19. Half Chimp
The main challenge for chimps is habitat loss, but also hunting. Many hunters hunt them for bushmeat. Combine that with the slow reproduction rate, and chimps have a hard time surviving.
20. Eagle Plastic Eagle
Eagles might not live in the ocean, but they face similar challenges. Because they prey on animals that are endangered due to plastic and habitat loss, eagles have troubles as well.
21. Plastic Fish
Speaking of plastic and the ocean, let’s check the regular fish. According to some statistic, there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic waste estimated to be in our oceans. How does that sound?
22. Half Unicorn
Unicorns are mythic creatures, but they should also make the list of animals that we have endangered. Who knows, maybe our ancestors did something wrong as well. Jokes aside, unicorns are beautiful creatures that we love.
23. Half Sea Turtle
This painting shows the harsh reality of sea animals. Just see how this turtle opens its mouth, only to find plastic entering her body. That is the life many of these sea creatures face. And because plastic has zero caloric value, they die of starvation.
24. Half Marten
Martens might be predators and can eat bigger animals than them, but they are in danger because of humans. Deforestation has caused habitat loss for this cute mammal. Some species are at higher risk than others. For example, there are only 400 Humboldt martens left in the world.
25. Half Grasshopper
Grasshopper suffer because of all the trash we throw out. And that applies even more when we go in nature. Just take a look at some of the natural places we visit. Parks filled with trash, cigarettes, and what more.
26. Half Buzzard
The population of the buzzard is stable for the time being. People can easily recognize them for their hunting thanks to their large wing span.
27. Red Squirrel
The red squirrel is a species of tree animals. They live in forests and eat fruits from the forest. But as we continue to decrease the amount of forests in the world, these cute animals will have a harder time to survive.
28. Plastic Bambi
Anyone who has watched the animated movie Bambi reacts to this animal in the wild. That movie brought so many emotions and showed the harsh reality of the species. They have to survive hunters and wildfires.
29. Half Stork
We associate this bird babies. But they are among the endangered species. Every year, they travel to the south looking for warmer weather that suits them. And sometimes, they come back to a ruined home.
30. Half Lion
The king of the jungle. The most fearsome animal in the wildlife. Yet, in the past few years, hunting has caused a huge drop in population of lions.
31. Half Crab
We had a hermit crab before. But Bordelo has made more than 200 animals in his art career. Now let’s check his regular crab.
32. Half Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores. They are a polyphyletic grouping, and are not a natural taxonomic group. There are around 72,000 social groups of badgers in England and Wales. And the UK has a quarter of the global population of the species.
33. Day Of The Elephants
Every year, on 12th August, we celebrate World Elephant Day. It is an international event dedicated to the preservation and protection of the world’s elephants. The African forest elephant is now listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.
34. Half Red Tailed Tropic Bird
You might tropic birds have it easy. But remember, they feed on sea animals, mostly fish. And we know how plastic in the oceans harms fish. This painting shows the harsh reality of tropic bird carrying a bird full of plastic.
35. Half Coyote
Let’s finish the list with another wildlife animal. Fun fact: there are coyote control platforms that kill these animals to prevent over reproduction.
