Pink elephant, cockroaches at show of artist Banksy

An elephant that was painted pink and gold as well as giant cockroaches greeted art enthusiasts at the first Los Angeles show of the British guerrilla artist Banksy.

The three-day "vandalized warehouse extravaganza" opened Friday in an anonymous warehouse in the downtown area.

Banksy, as he calls himself,created some buzz with two pranks prior to the show. A few weeks ago, he replaced 500 CDsof hotel heiress Paris Hilton's debut album with a mix of his own.He also inserted a sleeve showing her half-naked with faux song titles such as Why Am I Famous?and What Am I For?

Last week, he placed an inflated figure dressed like a detainee from Guantanamo Bay at a ride in Disneyland. It was dressed in the detention centre's signature orange overalls and sat at the ride for 90 minutes before it was removed.

"I think he's hilarious," said Manny Skiles,among dozens who lined up to buy $500 US limited-edition prints of Banksy's work.

Elephant a symbol of the world's problems

The art happening featured a large stencil picture showing bush hunters raising their spears at empty supermarket shopping carts. Another stencil had a masked anarchist about to throw a posy of flowers.

A Plexiglas case held fake Hilton CDs along with photos of the celebutante and live cockroaches.

Meanwhile, a living-room scene with the elephant had a man and woman reading on a couch, replete with a TV set and rugs. It was titled Home Sweet Home.

"From what I understand, the elephant is a symbol of all the world's problems being ignored," said the elephant's keeper, Kari Johnson.

Johnson said she used non-toxic paint on the elephant, Kai.

Typically, Banksy was not around to greet his fans.

The artist from Bristol prefers to keep his identity a secret, using a spokesperson to speak on his behalf.

Banksy has a history of artistic pranks. He has managed to hang fake artworks in major galleries in New York, Paris and London.