Flora Temnouche: "reality is spam"

January 18 - February 8, 2025

Flora Temnouche: “reality is spam”

January 18 – February 8

Megan Mulrooney is pleased to present “reality is spam,” our first exhibition with Parisian painter Flora Temnouche, which also marks her United States solo debut. The exhibition will be on view from January 18 to February 8 in Los Angeles.

Temnouche’s paintings are rooted in a close observation of her immediate surroundings. Rejecting artificial setups, she paints by daylight, capturing what surrounds her in her apartment-studio: a cut melon on her countertop, wilting flowers on her studio floor, even her own reflection. This approach requires a sharp attention to the nuances of her environment—the way sunlight shifts across a surface, how a discarded rag falls, or how arrangements of objects shape a sense of place and mood. Her works hold the traces of such fleeting moments and their atmospheres, balancing their ephemerality with the quasi-permanence of the canvas.

As we acquaint ourselves with Temnouche’s environment, and therefore with the artist herself, certain motifs recur. Winter Studio and Studio Table with Tulips explore the shifting tonalities of daylight within a single space, while Still Life with Paper Towel and Roses and Roses chart various stages in a bouquet’s decay. But Temnouche’s paintings extend beyond straightforward depictions of daily life and her own relationship to her living space; they also allegorize the act of painting itself. A table in one composition Studio Table with Tulips, for instance doubles as a palette, emphasizing the physical and conceptual processes behind her work.

Throughout, Temnouche cultivates a stillness and solitude in her still lives and portraits, evoking the introspective quietude of Gwen John by way of Giorgio Morandi. Her surfaces, prepared with gesso and marble dust and sometimes sanded, have a worn, hazy quality that makes the works themselves feel older than they actually are, a quasi-antiquarian veneer. Temnouche therefore siphons a cool, archaic beauty from mundane moments, using a soft color palette, delicate light, and rich textures to conjure the fugue-like state of memories or daydreams. Her works evoke the poignant sensation of being absorbed in a single thought or image, suspended in the fleeting moment just before it fades into the next.

Flora Temnouche (b. 1995, lives and works between Berlin and Paris) has had solo exhibitions at Galerie Elsa Meunier, Paris, and Galerie Zeto Art, Paris. Group exhibitions include AplusB Gallery, Vienna, and Brescia; Taymour Grahne Projects, London; Galerie Elsa Meunier; Museo Ebraico di Venezia; Palazzo Galli Tassi, Florence; and Kunstpalast Museum, Düsseldorf. She participated in the Transhumances Residency, hosted by Numeroventi, Palazzo Galli Talli, Florence.

  • Flora Temnouche The writer, the painter, 2025 Oil on canvas 26 x 29 7/8 in 66 x 76 cm (FTA24.014)

    Flora Temnouche

    The writer, the painter, 2025
    Oil on canvas
    26 x 29 7/8 in
    66 x 76 cm
    (FTA24.014)

  • Flora Temnouche Le goûter des enfants, 2024 Oil on canvas 38 1/4 x 43 1/4 in 97 x 110 cm (FTA24.015)

    Flora Temnouche

    Le goûter des enfants, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    38 1/4 x 43 1/4 in
    97 x 110 cm
    (FTA24.015)

  • Flora Temnouche Winter Studio, 2024 Oil on canvas 57 1/2 x 59 in 146 x 150 cm (FTA24.006)

    Flora Temnouche

    Winter Studio, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    57 1/2 x 59 in
    146 x 150 cm
    (FTA24.006)

  • Flora Temnouche Winter painter, 2025 Oil on canvas 23 7/8 x 30 1/2 in 60.5 x 77.5 cm (FTA25.001)

    Flora Temnouche

    Winter painter, 2025
    Oil on canvas
    23 7/8 x 30 1/2 in
    60.5 x 77.5 cm
    (FTA25.001)

  • Flora Temnouche Messy shelves, 2025 Oil on canvas 8 1/4 x 10 5/8 in 21 x 27 cm (FTA25.003)

    Flora Temnouche

    Messy shelves, 2025
    Oil on canvas
    8 1/4 x 10 5/8 in
    21 x 27 cm
    (FTA25.003)

  • Flora Temnouche Verre d'eau et tablier, 2025 Oil on wood panel 7 5/8 x 9 5/8 in 19.5 x 24.5 cm (FTA24.005)

    Flora Temnouche

    Verre d'eau et tablier, 2025
    Oil on wood panel
    7 5/8 x 9 5/8 in
    19.5 x 24.5 cm
    (FTA24.005)

  • Flora Temnouche Winter Studio, 2024 Oil on canvas 57 1/2 x 59 in 146 x 150 cm (FTA24.006)

    Flora Temnouche

    10 rue de Richelieu, 2024
    Oil on wood panel
    13 x 16 1/8 in
    33 x 41 cm
    (FTA24.007)

  • Flora Temnouche The reader, 2024 Oil on canvas 14 5/8 x 12 5/8 in 37 x 32 cm (FTA24.008)

    Flora Temnouche

    The reader, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    14 5/8 x 12 5/8 in
    37 x 32 cm
    (FTA24.008)

  • Flora Temnouche Melon fendu en deux, 2024 Oil on canvas 11 3/8 x 12 1/4 in 29 x 31 cm (FTA24.010)

    Flora Temnouche

    Melon fendu en deux, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    11 3/8 x 12 1/4 in
    29 x 31 cm
    (FTA24.010)

  • Flora Temnouche L'installation, 2024 Oil on canvas 11 3/8 x 11 3/4 in 29 x 30 cm (FTA24.009)

    Flora Temnouche

    L'installation, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    11 3/8 x 11 3/4 in
    29 x 30 cm
    (FTA24.009)

  • Flora Temnouche Interior, 2025 Oil on canvas 36 1/4 x 32 1/4 in 92 x 82 cm (FTA25.005)

    Flora Temnouche

    Interior, 2025
    Oil on canvas
    36 1/4 x 32 1/4 in
    92 x 82 cm
    (FTA25.005)

  • Flora Temnouche Studio table with tulips, 2025 Oil on wood panel 8 7/8 x 10 7/8 in 22.5 x 27.5 cm (FTA24.011)

    Flora Temnouche

    Studio table with tulips, 2025
    Oil on wood panel
    8 7/8 x 10 7/8 in
    22.5 x 27.5 cm
    (FTA24.011)

  • Flora Temnouche Roses, 2024 Oil on canvas 7 1/8 x 9 1/2 in 18 x 24 cm (FTA24.012)

    Flora Temnouche

    Roses, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    7 1/8 x 9 1/2 in
    18 x 24 cm
    (FTA24.012)

  • Flora Temnouche L'installation, 2024 Oil on canvas 11 3/8 x 11 3/4 in 29 x 30 cm (FTA24.009)

    Flora Temnouche

    Dining Table, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    11 3/4 x 12 5/8 in
    30 x 32 cm
    (FTA25.004)

  • Flora Temnouche Studio table with tulips, 2025 Oil on wood panel 8 7/8 x 10 7/8 in 22.5 x 27.5 cm (FTA24.011)

    Flora Temnouche

    Studio Table, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    24 3/8 x 29 7/8 in
    62 x 76 cm
    (FTA24.013)

  • Flora Temnouche Studio table with tulips, 2025 Oil on wood panel 8 7/8 x 10 7/8 in 22.5 x 27.5 cm (FTA24.011)

    Flora Temnouche

    A single bed, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    11 3/4 x 12 5/8 in
    30 x 32 cm
    (FTA25.006)

  • Flora Temnouche Roses, 2024 Oil on canvas 7 1/8 x 9 1/2 in 18 x 24 cm (FTA24.012)

    Flora Temnouche

    Still life with paper towel and roses, 2025
    Oil on canvas
    12 5/8 x 11 3/8 in
    32 x 29 cm
    (FTA25.002)

  • Flora Temnouche L'installation, 2024 Oil on canvas 11 3/8 x 11 3/4 in 29 x 30 cm (FTA24.009)

    Flora Temnouche

    Starring, 2025
    Oil on canvas
    11 3/8 x 16 1/2 in
    29 x 42 cm
    (FTA25.007)

  • Flora Temnouche Autoportrait au studio avec orange, 2025 Oil on canvas 11 3/4 x 11 3/8 in 30 x 29 cm (FTA24.004)

    Flora Temnouche

    Autoportrait au studio avec orange, 2025
    Oil on canvas
    11 3/4 x 11 3/8 in
    30 x 29 cm
    (FTA24.004)