Bordalo II’s London Trash Rat: From East London Waste to Underground Street Art

Bordalo II‘s London Rat was created for GraffitiStreet’s Underground Group Show in Shoreditch in 2015, transforming discarded materials collected across East London into a monumental trash animal sculpture. Built by Portuguese artist Artur Bordalo, the work connected the hidden architecture of London with the environmental force of Bordalo II’s Big Trash Animals, turning local waste into a powerful image of urban survival, street art culture and ecological responsibility.

Bordalo II – Rat Big Trash Animal. Image copyright GraffitiStreet

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About Trash King Bordalo II

Bordalo II, born Artur Bordalo in Lisbon in 1987, is fast becoming one of the most recognisable names in street art through a practice built from waste, wildlife and environmental urgency. Known for transforming discarded materials into large-scale animal sculptures, the Portuguese artist has taken his message from the streets of Lisbon to cities across the world, creating works that are visually striking, materially intelligent and impossible to ignore.

His creative path began in Lisbon, where he grew up watching his grandfather, the painter Real Bordalo, capture the city in watercolour. Alongside that early artistic influence, Bordalo II developed his own language through graffiti, urban exploration and the raw visual culture of the street. Over time, those worlds came together in a practice that now sits between street art, sculpture, assemblage and environmental activism.

Big Trash Animal By Bordalo II. Image copyright Bordalo II

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Bordalo II and the Big Trash Animals

Bordalo II is best known for his Big Trash Animals, a series of large-scale animal sculptures made from discarded materials. Old car bumpers, worn rubber tyres, broken plastics, scrap metal and other urban debris are cut, layered, painted and transformed into extraordinary three-dimensional portraits of animals.

The message is direct, but never simplistic. Bordalo II uses waste to depict the creatures most affected by pollution, overconsumption and habitat destruction. His materials are not hidden behind the artwork. They remain part of its meaning. The animal draws us closer, while the trash reminds us of the systems that continue to damage the natural world.

The result is street art with both beauty and consequence. His works ask us to be more thoughtful and resourceful with waste, while recognising that rubbish is far more than an aesthetic problem. It is an environmental one.

Big Trash Animal By Bordalo II. Image copyright Bordalo II

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Bordalo II London Rat at GraffitiStreet’s Underground Group Show

Bordalo II had certainly caught our attention, so we invited him to London to create a Big Trash Animal for GraffitiStreet’s Underground Group Show in Shoreditch on 2 July 2015.

For the exhibition, Bordalo II created a monumental London Trash Rat, standing approximately four metres high. It was the perfect animal for the setting. The rat belongs to the hidden architecture of the city: tunnels, basements, service routes, back alleys and the underground spaces most people pass through without really seeing. Within the old underground atmosphere of the show, the work felt completely at home.

There was also a quiet nod to Banksy in the choice of subject. In street art, the rat has long been associated with wit, survival, rebellion and urban intelligence. Banksy helped give the rat an iconic place within contemporary street culture, yet Bordalo II took that lineage somewhere materially different. This rat was not painted onto the city. It was built from the city.

The Bordalo II London Rat, Shoreditch, East London. Image copyright GraffitiStreet

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How Bordalo II London Rat Was Made From East London Waste

True to Bordalo II’s practice, the London Trash Rat was made from materials collected in East London. The waste included car bumpers, bike helmets, a sofa chair, an empty fire extinguisher, plastics and other discarded objects gathered from the surrounding urban environment.

That local connection mattered. Bordalo II often works with materials found in the area where the artwork is created, allowing the final sculpture to carry the physical identity of its location. In this case, the London Trash Rat was not only made for the city. It was made from the city.

The process revealed the physical intelligence behind Bordalo II’s work. Before the animal appeared, there was the search, the collecting, the sorting and the understanding of each object’s potential. Materials that had already passed through systems of use and abandonment were given a new form, becoming part of an animal that felt alert, monumental and alive.

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Watching the London Trash Rat Come to Life

Bordalo II got straight to work with our GraffitiStreet carpenter James Taylor, and it was a pleasure to watch one of his Big Trash Animals come together right before our eyes.

The scale of the work demanded space, patience and instinct. The studio had to be large enough and tall enough to hold the animal as it emerged from the collected waste. Over the course of the project, discarded objects were studied, cut, arranged, layered and fixed into place until the rat began to take shape.

This is where Bordalo II’s practice becomes especially powerful. The materials are not simply attached to a structure. They are composed. Each object carries its previous life, yet becomes part of a new one. The finished work holds that tension beautifully: waste and wildlife, humour and warning, street culture and ecological urgency.

The Bordalo II London Rat remains one of GraffitiStreet’s most memorable early collaborations with the Portuguese artist. Image copyright GraffitiStreet

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GraffitiStreet Perspective

“The London Rat felt like the perfect creature for that old underground setting, with a quiet nod to Banksy and the rat’s place in street art culture. What made Bordalo II’s process so powerful was seeing London’s own discarded materials transformed into an animal that felt as though it had climbed out from beneath the city itself.” Donna Haden, GraffitiStreet Co-Founder

Working with Bordalo II on the London Trash Rat remains a powerful memory for GraffitiStreet. It gave us a close view of the labour, imagination and material sensitivity behind his practice.

Bordalo II’s London Rat, a Big Trash Animal made from local waste for GraffitiStreet’s London exhibition. Image copyright GraffitiStreet.

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Discover Bordalo II at GraffitiStreet

From the London Trash Rat to his celebrated Big Trash Animals, Bordalo II transforms urban waste into works that speak with humour, intelligence and ecological urgency.

For Bordalo II availability, acquisitions, and private viewings, explore the collection online, contact us directly, or visit our gallery in the heart of Chichester, England.