Aly Ben Salem has actively immersed himself in learning painting as taught academically. After a good technical command, he successfully appropriated the elements of expression necessary for him. His early works in gouache, watercolor, and oil painting reflect traditional pictorial elements but already exhibit a sense of freedom from academic constraints. Women figures are often in the center of his canvas. He pictures beauty, as he perceives it in all possible shapes and forms. “I paint whatever moves me, whatever touches me, whatever seems beautiful to me, like a young women, I draw and I pile up. My boxes are full of portraits. [...] Then the day comes when I feel like painting a picture. I then select from my sketches, rework them and add galloping hair, flowers and gazelles. I don't have a handsome man, so I take the same woman and put her next to herself. I masculinize her by adding a beard and moustache. The man and woman become twin brothers. Yes, I want the man - to be drawn- in love, like the woman's twin brother. This is how life achieves a sense of balance”, says Ben Salem about his paintings.

Ben Salem's sometimes-dreamlike world reflects not only the Maghreb Tunisian society but also mythology. It transcends mere academic exercises, introducing a style that anticipates the freedom and audacity of Art Nouveau. He is a storyteller of color, part of a generation that, fortunately, surprised with its quick ability to build an artistic legacy. Believing that an artist should bring joy and avert destruction, Ben Salem painted to instil serenity, mental freedom, and love in his viewers.