Aranya Art Center North is pleased to present distances, the first museum solo exhibition in China by Algerian artist Massinissa Selmani, featuring the artist’s works in a variety of mediums including pencil drawings on paper, animated films, sculptures and installations.
Drawing is at the core of Selmani’s creations. Here, he treats the exhibition as one giant drawing, sweeping the viewer up in a series of light-hearted and fascinating drawings, animations and installations. Selmani shifts between mediums in a search for the expression of space and potential in drawing.
Though the forms are simple, Selmani’s works are always touching on key historical, cultural and social topics. The intentional blank spaces and unfinished lines in the works, like the detached backgrounds, are important components of the works. When making preparatory sketches, the artist often begins with press photographs taken from newspapers, extracting the elements of truth and removing background information to intentionally produce a sense of “something missing,” inviting the viewer to draw from their own memory associations and visual references to interpret for themselves. His artworks do not engage in direct criticism, but use humor and satire to reexamine memories that have been overlooked or marginalised in the process of historical transitions.
This exhibition is organised by Assistant Curator Gao Liangjiao and Associate Curator Wu Yiyang at the Aranya Art Center.
Press release from Aranya Art Center
Image : Massinissa Selmani. Installation view from Massinissa Selmani: distances at Aranya Art Center North. 27 May–23 November 2025. Photography Sun Shi
