Norwich artist’s work has appeared alongside Hollywood stars

It is a work of art that has appeared alongside Hollywood film stars and international rap icons.

And now the painting produced by Norwich artist Nicolas Ruston has found its way onto a new TV series.

The piece, entitled 'The Superficial Transparency of Everything', made its big screen debut in 2009 in the film Dead Man Running, featuring 50 Cent and Danny Dyer.

And three years later and it appeared in the comedy Outside Bet, starring the English actor and Hollywood star Bob Hoskins.

Now, Mr Ruston's artwork has been chosen for another background role – this time in the latest series of Comedy Central's 'I Live with Models'.

He said: 'It's great exposure for the work, so I'm really happy that it was selected. The pieces have been very popular, and it's interesting that they are still being broadcast eight years after I made them.

'I think this is a result of the types of images I selected for this series, because they tap into the stuff we see in adverts every day and so seem familiar.'

Mr Ruston, who lives off Unthank Road, created the piece using a technique known as scratch painting – a method he developed himself.

It involves applying multiple layers of paint to a canvas and scratching it with a surgical blade before the final layers dry.

In the film Dead Man Running, the painting is used to obscure a safe, which has been discovered by a call girl. And in Outside Bet it can be spotted in the background during a conversation between two characters.

For its latest appearance, the artwork will be featured in an apartment scene – along with another piece of his work.

Mr Ruston added: 'I have a few contacts who work in the film industry. It is usually the art director who chooses the work to appear in the sets. I tend to get contacted out of the blue.'

His latest exhibition, The End, will be at The Enterprise Centre at the UEA on August 4.