Nicolas Ruston (born 1975) is a British artist, "most recognized for his silicone and mixed media works, which explore the notion of artificial manipulation".

[3] Ruston gained a BA in Design Management and Innovation at De Montfort University, Leicester, where he "became fascinated with semiotics and the social theory of advertising and marketing".

He has worked as an Art Director on brands such as Jaguar cars, Sky Television plc, Diesel clothing, Barclays, Virgin Group and the BBC.

[5]Neal Brown noted in his essay that, "Ruston has commanded the vast turmoil of meanings that attach to this subject be upended, spilling their moral and ethical complexities in a brazen exposure of orgiastic, entangled writhings, whose values he determines as variously humorous, sad or debased".

[8] "Western Society has an obsession with image, an emphasis on presentation over substance, vanity over health, marketing and packaging over progressive science and spin over government policy".

Much of the content featured in the show originated from found objects, including prostitutes' calling cards, litter from the streets, or from Ruston's extensive collection of newspapers and magazines.

However, any criticism is dryly neither confirmed nor dismissed, as noted in Ruston's interview for the exhibition catalogue: "It's difficult not to be a hypocrite when you're living in the belly of the beast".

An installation entitled "Euphoria", based on the notorious case of Joseph Fritzl that raised questions about the divisions between fiction and reality.

The painting "was inspired by an article published by The Independent newspaper, reporting the race by Japanese and American companies to acquire patents to human DNA sequences for future development and marketing".

The show featured a new collection, described by Galleries magazine as "powerful explorations in painting and video of mass media and modern myth".