Bordalo II’s New Half-Half Koala Replaces His 2017 Plastic Frog in Lisbon
Portuguese artist Bordalo II has unveiled a new Half-Half Koala in Lisbon’s Xabregas district, replacing the colourful Plastic Frog that occupied the same wall on Rua da Manutenção from 2017 until 2026. The Plastic Frog was his first piece of his series of works Plastic Trash Animals for his solo show ATTERO.
Revealed on 14 August, the new three-dimensional animal sculpture divides the koala between two visual realities: one side carries the species’ familiar grey colouring, while the other exposes a vivid anatomy of discarded plastics and urban debris.
Bordalo II’s Half-Half Koala replaces the artist’s 2017 Plastic Frog on Rua da Manutenção in Xabregas, Lisbon 2026. Image copyright Bordalo II
A New Trash Animal Takes Over a Historic Lisbon Wall
The new koala occupies the wall at Rua da Manutenção 3, close to Bordalo II’s former studio on Rua de Xabregas. It is a location with particular significance within the development of his public practice.
Installed in July 2017, the earlier Plastic Frog was among Bordalo II’s oldest surviving Lisbon trash animals and is his first street artwork for the Plastic Trash Animals project. Its energetic limbs, enlarged eyes and fragments of brightly coloured plastic appeared to propel the amphibian across the concrete façade.
After nine years exposed to the changing city, the frog has now been removed. In its place, the koala sits more quietly against the architecture, its rounded ears, lowered gaze and frontal composition giving the animal a heavier, more contemplative presence.
Announcing the replacement, Bordalo II wrote: “This half-half koala replaced our old plastic frog in Xabregas.”
The brief statement carries a certain affection. Describing the earlier sculpture as “our” frog acknowledges the public relationship that can grow around a street artwork, particularly one that has watched over the same neighbourhood for almost a decade.
Installed in July 2017, the earlier Plastic Frog was among Bordalo II’s first trash animal in his plastic series. Image copyright Bordalo II
Why Bordalo II’s Half-Half Format Matters
The new Lisbon koala belongs to Bordalo II’s Half-Half sub-series, an important branch of his celebrated Big Trash Animals.
Within these works, the artist divides the animal between a naturalistic surface and an exposed construction of waste. One half draws the viewer towards the living creature, while the other reveals the broken plastics, vehicle components, pipes and industrial remnants from which the sculpture has been assembled.
Bordalo II describes this division as an encounter between “the real animal and the animal born from the trash.” By placing these conflicting forms side by side, he connects the materials of mass consumption with the pressure those same materials place upon wildlife and natural habitats.
In the new koala, the transition between earthy realism and unruly colour functions almost like a cross-section. The animal appears caught between nature and the manufactured world, with one side maintaining the visual integrity of its fur and the other dissolving into the debris of contemporary life.
The construction remains deliberately legible. Plastic curves become fur, broken containers create facial planes, and discarded objects accumulate into a body that feels simultaneously vulnerable and monumental. Waste has been transformed, although its former identity has never been allowed to disappear.
Bordalo II and his team install the new Half-Half Koala on Rua da Manutenção in Xabregas, Lisbon, replacing the artist’s 2017 Plastic Frog. Video copyright Bordalo II
The Waste Remains Legible
Seen closely, the exposed half of the koala resembles an archaeological section through urban consumption. Moulded panels, hoses, crates, corrugated plastic and fragments of municipal signage are layered into its face and fur, allowing individual objects to retain traces of their former lives.
Among the most arresting materials are numerous disembodied mannequin or doll limbs projecting from the koala’s ear. Their uncanny human resemblance introduces another presence into the animal’s body, connecting wildlife with the discarded surrogates of consumer culture. A fragment marked “Limpeza Urbana Lixo”, Portuguese for urban cleaning and rubbish, makes the construction unexpectedly self-referential: the language of waste management has itself become waste, absorbed into the artwork it helps to describe.
At the centre, a pink drainpipe divides the face with almost diagrammatic precision. On one side, colour and recognisable objects remain fully exposed; on the other, similar debris has been painted in layered greys, whites and blacks to create the illusion of fur. The two enormous eyes hold the composition together, suggesting that beneath these radically different surfaces sits the same vulnerable creature.
Discarded doll limbs, municipal signage and moulded plastic fragments form the exposed ear of Bordalo II’s Half-Half Koala. Image copyright Bordalo II
From the Plastic Frog to the Half-Half Koala
Replacing the frog with a Half-Half work also records the evolution of Bordalo II’s visual language.
The Plastic Frog belonged to the artist’s Plastic approach, in which the natural colours of the discarded materials remain fully exposed. Bright greens, blues, reds and yellows determined the amphibian’s appearance, allowing colour, texture and recognisable objects to dominate the composition. This was his very first in this series.
The koala introduces a more pronounced duality. Its grey side creates the impression of an animal emerging from the wall, while its exposed half reveals the industrial structure supporting that illusion. The shift moves the site from the exuberance of visible plastic towards a more concentrated confrontation between wildlife and waste.
Bordalo II has previously used the koala in his environmental work. In 2020, his studio released a three-dimensional Young Koala edition and directed 40 per cent of the profits to the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, supporting wildlife rehabilitation and habitat recovery following destructive Australian fires.
Bordalo II’s new Half-Half Koala divides exposed urban waste and naturalistic grey camouflage across a monumental façade in Xabregas, Lisbon. Image copyright Bordalo II
Frequently Asked Questions
The Half-Half Koala is installed at Rua da Manutenção 3 in Xabregas, Lisbon, close to Bordalo II’s former studio on Rua de Xabregas.
Bordalo II revealed the new sculpture on Friday, 14 August 2026.
The Plastic Frog was removed from the Xabregas wall and replaced by the Half-Half Koala. The frog had occupied the site since July 2017.
Half-Half describes Bordalo II’s sculptures that divide an animal between a naturalistic, camouflaged surface and a visibly trash-built surface. The format highlights the relationship between wildlife and the waste associated with pollution and habitat destruction.
The visible construction includes moulded plastic panels, hoses, crates, corrugated fragments, discarded signage, mannequin or doll limbs and other urban debris. These components are left brightly exposed on one side and painted in greys, whites and blacks on the other. Bordalo II has not yet published a complete material inventory for the installation.
Related Reading
To explore the wider ideas behind the new Lisbon installation, read Bordalo II Big Trash Animals: Waste, Wildlife and Meaning, GraffitiStreet’s authoritative guide to the artist’s Neutral, Half-Half and Plastic sub-series.
The history of GraffitiStreet’s relationship with the artist can be discovered through Bordalo II’sLondon Trash Rat, which documents how waste collected across East London in 2015 and became a monumental sculpture for our Underground exhibition.
Discover Bordalo II at GraffitiStreet
Bordalo II’s studio work exhibited at ‘Colour & Concrete’, GraffitiStreet gallery, Chichester, England. Image copyright GraffitiStreet.
For Bordalo II availability, acquisitions and gallery viewings, explore the collection online, contact GraffitiStreet directly, or visit GraffitiStreet Gallery at 25A West Street, Chichester, West Sussex, England PO19 1QW.