The Guardian Explains

“Some more cynical readers have suggested the outcry over the cover was just what we were after. ‘Shock tactics designed to outrage people so you can belittle their ideas about art,’ was how one reader saw it. But if we knew an image like Wearing’s was bound to offend some of our readers, I can assure you there was absolutely nothing satisfying about the wave of anger and dismay that rolled into the paper yesterday.”