Bordalo II

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Art

Bordalo II Combines Salvaged Neon Tubes, Industrial Materials, and Other Waste into Lively Trash Animals in a New Retrospective

A seven-meter-tall squirrel made of railway dividers, decommissioned industrial hoses, and shopping carts in disrepair opens a massive retrospective from Portuguese artist Bordalo II (previously). Spanning ten years of his career, EVILUTION reflects the environmental themes the artist has been drawn to for at least the last decade that are reflected through his signature Trash Animals, creatures comprised of entirely salvaged materials. Spray-paint cans are slotted into an abstract mosaic of a raccoon, while neon tubing illuminates a range of sculptural creatures including a fox, spider, and even a snail strapped to an electric scooter.

EVILUTION, which opens this weekend at the Edu Hub of Lisbon, exposes the incredible array of material humans discard and how such waste affects the environment and biodiversity. The show also marks Bordalo II’s first foray into neon, which he describes in a statement:

It’s unbelievable what people throw away. Many of our sculptures use obvious household trash, but we want to show that there’s a whole ecosystem of junk laying around out there that is threatening nature. That includes things like generations of broken neon tubes, which most people wouldn’t ever think about…EVILUTION is a kind of retrospective of everything I’ve been doing over the last ten years and also a way of looking towards the future.

Head to the artist’s Instagram for a preview of the exhibition, which runs from October 8 to December 11.

 

Art

Bordalo II Opens the Doors to ‘Attero,’ a Giant Exhibition of Animal Assemblages Built with Trash

Within the confines of an abandoned warehouse in Lisbon, artist Bordalo II just opened the doors to his largest body of work to date, dozens of animalistic assemblages comprised of his trademark medium: trash. Using locally-sourced waste plastics, car parts, construction materials, and other found detritus, Bordalo has become famous for his uncanny depictions of animals—those most vulnerable to the side effects of our disposable economy. While scale often plays a large role in his outdoor wall-mounted street pieces, the artist also created considerably smaller assemblages attached to old doors, siding, and windowpanes.

“Whether on a large or small scale, his unusual sculptural creations oblige us to question and rethink our own role as actors in this static, consumerist and self-destructive society, which exploits, often in an abusive way, the resources that nature offers us,” shares Attero curator Lara Seixo Rodrigues.

With well over 8,000 visitors in its first week, Attero (Latin for waste) opened on November 4, 2017, and runs through November 26. You can see many more photos on Facebook and Instagram.

 

Art

New Split-View Trash Sculptures by Bordalo II Combine Wood and Colorful Plastics Into Gigantic Animals

Bordalo II (previously) has created a series of bisected animals, colorful plastics forming one half of the creature while a combination of wood and metal created a muted mirror on the other side. In one piece the Portuguese artist created a turtle with legs that extend to the ground, appearing to crawl along the side of a low wall in Moncton, Canada. Other works are more monumental, such as a rabbit that extends two stories in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, and a raccoon that seems to dangle head first from a building in Pittsburgh.

The globally-placed installations are the newest evolution of his series Trash Animals, large public works that address the impact our carelessly tossed waste has on the environment around us. You can observe his process for collecting plastic and other waste, as well as follow more of his recent work, on Instagram.

 

Art

New Animalistic Trash Sculptures by Bordalo II Spring Up Around the Globe

Instead of contemplating a series of sketches or attempting to envision how an artwork will come together, Portuguese artist Bordalo II (previously) begins each of his animal sculptures in a grimy hunt for raw materials in junkyards or abandoned factories. Car bumpers, tires, door panels, mountains of malleable plastic bumpers, and even entire vehicles are stacked and bolted to the sides of buildings to resemble everything from pelicans to foxes and tiny rodents. The pieces grow on-site, taking form as he interprets the available materials. As a final detail, each animal is finished with a flourish of spray paint that bestows a near-lifelike quality.

Through his art, Bordalo II hopes to draw attention to our culture’s uncontrollable production of waste. “The idea is to depict nature itself, in this case, animals, out of materials that are responsible for [their] destruction,” he shares with Colossal. In this way, he hopes to make environmental destruction more visible. “Sometimes people don’t recognize that their simple routines are too much, we are using too many resources too fast and turning them into trash, waste, and pollution.”

Bordalo II was one of many artists recently involved with the Unexpected art project curated by JustKids in Ft. Smith, Arkansas where he created a new fox and opossum. He also constructed a flying squirrel at Street Art Jam 2016 in Estonia and several pieces for the Aruba Art Fair. You can follow his recent work on Instagram.

 

Art

New Trash and Found Object Murals by ‘Bordalo II’ on the Streets of Lisbon

Artist Bordalo II (previously) uses old tires, bumpers, and other scraps of painted found trash to form towering 3D murals of animals on the streets of Lisbon, Portugal. Collected here are several pieces from the last few months, and you can see much more on Facebook.

 

Art

Trash and Found Objects Transformed into Birds by ‘Bordalo II’

Lisbon-based street artist Bordallo II (previously) recently completed work on two new bird installations, an owl and a heron, created from painted trash and other objects affixed to a wall. You can see additional new works by following on Facebook.