About 3,200 citizens of the city of Hull in Yorkshire, England, stripped down after painting themselves blue to appear in New York-based artist Spencer Tunick's art installation that sought to celebrate the town's relationship with the sea.

"The Sea of Hull installation was one of the most fantastic projects I've ever done, and it was inspiring to be able to intertwine the city's maritime heritage against an urban backdrop throughout the whole piece," Tunick, the artist known for having organised about 75 large-scale nude shots around the world, was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

Tunick's Sea of Hull installation, said to have set the record for the biggest mass nude shot in U.K., involved participants from 20 countries. They posed at the city's most prominent locations, such as Queen's Dock, which is now a city centre park, the Guildhall and the Scale Lane swing bridge over the river Hull.

The high turnout for Tunick's art installation surpassed that witnessed during his previous artworks in the U.K., such as the Gateshead in 2005 and Salford in 2010.

The art installation, commissioned by Hull's Ferens Art Gallery, will be presented next year.