IN LONDON, there’s a popular short cut that snakes down from Rosslyn Hill past St Stephen’s Church to reach the Royal Free Hospital (RFH) in Hampstead, where construction work is currently under way.

Hoardings with a difference have been erected all along the path and towards the bottom of it To The Point have created a 30-metre-long outdoor gallery with impressive large scale reproductions of paintings by local artist Oliver Yu Chan.

Chez Bob & Hampstead Tea Rooms

Representing views of the immediate vicinity — Heath Street, Flask Walk, Chez Bob or Chalk Farm Station —  Yu Chan’s ebullient brush-work, unique and vibrant colour palette and vision charm and intrigue with their exuberance.

His fondness for the area where he lives and artistic approach are reminiscent of Maurice Utrillo and his beloved Montmartre.

Yu Chan, who has autism, has been painting for 20 years and his work is usually on display in Village Cafe in Belsize Lane, which is owned by his family and where he helps out.

Heath Street & Flask Walk Hampstead

His talent is not dissimilar from that of architectural artist Stephen Wiltshire, also on the autistic spectrum, whose drawings have brought him worldwide acclaim.

As a child, Yu Chan attended a local school for pupils with a wide range of learning difficulties and while there was invited to attend a weekly art class at another school in the vicinity. He hasn’t looked back since.

“My mom got me into it when I was a child and I’ve taken it from there really,” he says, confessing that he was  nervous when the  RFH got in touch.  

He still “gets a bit nervous” looking at what he’s produced “but I do love it and feel positive from it. I feel proud.”

And so he should.