Internationally acclaimed artist Stephen Wiltshire has an extraordinary talent, an ability to draw intricate cityscapes from memory with uncanny accuracy. Wiltshire has created cityscape of major cities including London, Tokyo, Rome, New York, Madrid and Sydney. This month it is Brisbane's turn. Wiltshire has spent the past few days sketching his impressions of Brisbane at the State Library of Queensland as a part of TEDxBrisbane and on invitation from Kevin Chin, founder and managing partner of investment firm Arowana Partners Group. An avid Wiltshire fan, Chin commissioned a panorama of Brisbane which is set to be completed today and will be on display at the State Library of Queensland for the next couple of days.
Wiltshire was born in London to West Indian parents in 1974. Aged three, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. He had no language and lived entirely in his own world. In later years he studied fine art at City & Guilds Art College. His work has gained worldwide acclaim and is held in a number of important collections.
Wiltshire' work has been the subject of many television documentaries and neurologist Oliver Sacks praised his artistic work in the chapter Prodigies in his book An Anthropologist on Mars. In 2006, Wilshire was awarded an MBE for services to the art world. In September 2006, he opened his permanent gallery in the Royal Opera Arcade in London's Pall Mall and this year he was made an honorary fellow of the Society of Architectural Illustration.