The Playboy bunny has been one of the most famous images in the world for 40 years - and is still turning heads.

Artist Simon Etheridge has used the rabbit icon and some of the beautiful women who graced the pages of Playboy magazine as the basis of his first major exhibition.

Simon, 30, from Brighton, previously caused a storm with a painting of singer Kylie Minogue - her bottom was stopping traffic outside his Art Asylum studio in Kemp Town, Brighton.

He hopes his works inspired by the Bunny Girls will prove just as eye-catching.

He said: "Some are actually Playboy images, others are femme fatale images. I started the project about three months ago but have been collecting images for months.

"The pictures are graphic pop art images with each canvas a burst of colour. One is primarily in reds, another in blues.

"I have tried to use colours which reflect the period the images are from so those from the Seventies are in browns and oranges, while more modern ones are in chocolate brown and cream."

Over the years a host of famous celebrities have stripped for Playboy, including Marilyn Monroe, Pamela Anderson and Cindy Crawford, but Simon said: "I have tried to steer clear of famous pin-ups and have gone for the unsung heroines of Playboy."

His five-week exhibition opens at the Blanch House restaurant, Atlingworth Street, Kemp Town, today.

Among guests at yesterday's launch party was Kate Brockless, 40, from Crawley, AKA Lauren, a Bunny Girl from 1981, who can still get into her costume.

Simon decided against inviting Hugh Hefner, founder of the Playboy empire. He said: "I've always been a huge fan of his.

"I did think about dressing up as him with the pipe and smoking jacket but thought better of it."