Artist Li Zhuangping has sparked controversy in China by releasing a series of compositions in which he paints his 23-year-old daughter Li Qin nude, and usually in the company of a lion, a tiger or another member of the great cat family.

Part of the uproar can be attributed to China being a more modest society than ours when it comes to sex and nudity. In fact, some Chinese commentators have likened the paintings to "spiritual incest." Still, a father sizing up his daughter's nude body can make even the freest mind think twice.

After the jump, check out some of Zhuangping's NSFW-ish "Oriental Goddess Mountain Spirit Series," while we debate whether it's thought-provoking art, or creepy, creepy kitsch.

It's art, I tell you

-- Li Qin has emphatically stated she will only model for her father. So if it wasn't for Li Zhuangping bucking China's societal mores, the world would have never been exposed to these striking images of Li Qin's delicate femininity contrasted with the menacing calm of a great cat.

-- Would you think any differently of the legendary nude statue Venus de Milo if we learned that its mystery sculptor was in fact Aphrodite's dad? (since Aphrodite was born from the disembodied manhood of Uranus, this would be unlikely, but we ask you to use your imagination.)

-- If Li Zhuangping was simply focused on exploiting his attractive offspring, he wouldn't have also painted the tiger nude.

It's exploitative and really cheesy

-- There is no denying the disturbing similarities between Zhuangping's compositions and the lush realism that was custom spray-painted on the sides of creepy vans in the 1970s.

-- We are all for the art of the human form, but in these paintings, Zhuagping has clearly enhanced his daughter's bust size. Making it less a celebration of what God has created, and more akin to soft porn for confused zookeepers.

-- While Li Qin was 23 when these pictures were painted, she was 17 when she began modeling for her father. If the Beijing Olympics taught us anything, that means she may have been more like 14 the first time she got naked in her dad's studio.