Tibetan peace flags, boring benches, and indie goddess Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs may not seem to have a lot in common, but they are three of the ingredients which are helping to create an artistic ‘wow factor’ in Twickenham.

The Stables Gallery, at Orleans House, is currently home to an explosive exhibition – but none of the art it show-cases was created by professional artists. The men and women behind the photography, painting, and sculpture that make up Sidelines do everything from picture framing to property development for their day jobs.

But the intensity of their art suggests that it is more than your average hobby.

As you enter the gallery, one word jumps out at you: YES. It is written large in black onto a white flag by Tim Head, who has long had a fascination with Tibetan prayer flags.

He says: “I spent two days interviewing users of the grounds and collected 200 uplifting messages, then whittled them down. There are now four flags around the grounds with those messages on them: Yes, Hope, Love andEverything’s Going To Be Okay.”

And, if you think coming across a flag shouting “Love” at you wasn’t radical enough, you need to check out the work of Leo Marcantonio, whose stunningly lit photo of jewel-like fish on a Tenerife beach has more to it than meets the eye – “If you look closely at it you can see two silhouettes”– and, sure, enough there is a perfect outline of two onlookers spread behind the image.

Vicky Steane’s vivid, geometric representations of London train stations hit you with a blast of color and slashes of silver: “I love the perspective of train stations,” she says. “I find them peaceful places, when you are in them you are on a journey.”

Steane cites comic book artists as an influence, and it is one shared by Ed Harding.

By day he works for a property development company, but he found the time to create a striking portrait of Karen O which draws your eyes to hers with an almost scary compulsion.

Across the gallery you may think you are treading some more familiar ground. A series of photographs by Tom Ganf show 12 views of various spots in and around Twickenham. So what was the logic behind these streetscapes?

“Boring benches,” he says. “I got the idea after going out for a few ales in Twickenham, then stopping to sit down opposite the Twickeham Tup and petrol station and thinking, ‘why would you put a bench here?’”

It is rare to experience a collection of art with as much vigour as this, especially in the bloated world of super-rich Brit Art. The art you see in here comes from the heart, as Ganf, who also curated the exhibition says: “I shoot for me – it’s what I enjoy.”

Sidelines, Stables Gallery, Twickenham, until August 30, visit stablesgallery.co.uk