From the series "My favorite places"

The technique of his drawings is simple to the point of archaism: based on the talent of the draftsman, it is multiplied by gigantic craft labor costs. The space of the drawing literally accumulates, visualizes and transmits the energy of the expended "man-hours", instantaneous impulses and the shortest signals unthinkable for today. The artist frantically attacks the canvas, fights with the pencil at the ready, holding it according to Filonov's testament: like a carpenter with an axe, so that no one can snatch it away.

Chelushkin's persistence in ignoring more or less significant themes or iconic images is striking, in how carefully he increases his personal poetics of non-recognition, how consistently he increases the productivity of his marginal fields! In his depository, it is impossible to find a media face, a recognizable landscape or a gesture of homage. Breaking out of any canons into occasional freedom is a practically impossible task, but it is captivating, how can one not recall from the greats: “The world caught me, but did not catch me.”

Text: Anton Uspensky