Tai, a 38-year-old Asian elephant, painted by
British underground artist Banksy, is displayed at the "Barely Legal" exhibition
at a warehouse near downtown Los Angeles September 15, 2006.[Reuters]
On one wall, a stencil art picture shows bush hunters in loincloths raising
their spears at empty supermarket shopping carts. On another, a masked street
anarchist with a thrown back arm prepares to hurl -- a bunch of flowers.
But the placid pink elephant takes pride of place. Tai, 38, looms large in a
room decked out with a sofa, a television, rugs on the floor and a man and woman
sitting reading obliviously on the couch. It is titled "Home Sweet Home."
"We are sitting on the couch not seeing her. From what I understand, the
elephant is a symbol of all the world's problems being ignored," said Kari
Johnson, Tai's caretaker. Johnson said Tai lives on a private southern
California elephant ranch and has appeared in several commercials.
"There is nothing in the world I would ever do to harm an elephant. The paint
is nontoxic and washable and does not hurt a bit," Johnson told Reuters.
Banksy, as is his custom, was not around to discuss his show, which followed
a prank at Disneyland this month in which he placed a blow-up figure dressed in
orange Guantanamo Bay prison overalls beside a roller-coaster ride.
Last month, Banksy placed remixed copies of Paris Hilton's debut CD in stores
across England. He gave them titles such as "Why Am I Famous?" and "What Am I
For?"
In the "Barely Legal" show, the fake Hilton CDs are displayed in a plexiglass
case alongside photo-shopped pictures of the hotel heiress and live cockroaches.
It was not known whether Hilton, who was propelled to fame by an amateur sex
video, would be visiting the Los Angeles show, which according to local media
reports has been seen by Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and other Hollywood
celebrities.
