Of all the bizarre works of sculpture that find their way into museums these days, where exactly does one draw the line between art and plain old weirdness? For the curators of the Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, the line is apparently drawn at pigs and their body art. According to the Telegraph, officials in Shanghai decided to ban Wim Delvoye's infamous tattooed pigs, some decorated to look like Louis Vuitton handbags, after a slew of complaints rained in from China's animal lovers.

Do the tattooed oinkers appear to be in bad taste? Uhhh ... probably. Does the body art seem to be bothering the pigs? That's a little tougher to decide. Animal rights activists automatically labeled the exhibit as animal cruelty, although Delvoye defends his work and his methods.

Acording to the artist, the pigs living sculptures that Delvoye used in his "Art Farm" exhibit are all treated very humanely, and we're put under sedation before they were inked. In fact, according to the Belgian conceptual artist: "the pigs enjoy better living conditions than millions of poor Chinese."

Apparently, Delvoye tattooed his 8 pigs as they were still young, tracking the growth of their living "canvasses." Delvoye's tattoed pigs are available for purchase, you can either buy them live, or wait until they die of natural causes and purchase their skins. One of Wim's stuffed pigs will run you about $171,000.

[via Jezebel]