GearBox Gallery Oakland

January 22- February 28, 2026

Three Girls

Solo Exhibition

California painter, Christine Ferrouge makes paintings about the social and intrapersonal complexity of girlhood. Inside these paintings, her daughters and their friends have been growing up before our eyes. Now the girls are older. They are not little girls. They are teenagers.

Ferrouge's teens are not exactly what you might expect. They are not the weak, crazy, second class we often negatively associate with "teens". They have the strength, dignity, and psychological presence that she has always shown us in her paintings of girls. They are still the "women-to-be" that you could always see simmering below the surface of these determined and confident characters.

These works are a mother's view of her teens: their lounging around, napping frequently, and the quiet social understanding between the them. You can feel the unique and tight knit bond- especially connecting the girls- and the looks they give you when you catch them in that sacred space. "When you enter the gallery and stand in front of one of these scenes, you are present in their space, but you are not part of their circle." –Ferrouge

This is a well established thread in Ferrouge's work. After the Costume Party (2019), Desert Picnic (2020), After the Fires (2021), Watching/Waiting (2023), and Girls in the Mirror (2024) all give the viewer the feeling that you are in their space. The artist first observed exclusivity and girl power in her daughters and their little friends when they were just 5 and 6 years old, which inspired The Huddle (Ferrouge, 2016). To Ferrouge's surprise, many young men found that painting scary. 

"[Ferrouge] portrays complex humans, not cute, one-dimensional beings; her paintings are seriously insightful images…"

Betty Ann Brown, PhD

"…painter Christine Ferrouge, whose ongoing portraiture practice engages a particular thread of art history in which women paint women, girls, and girls on the cusp of womanhood—celebrating their insider’s perspective on subject’s inner lives, and their outsider’s perspective on the culture that surrounds them."

– Shana Nys Dambrot, Art Critic

Los Angeles, 2024

In contrast to the seven feet high oil paintings that dominate the room, Ferrouge also has small works that capture the gestural, figurative narratives on an intimate scale. Since beginning to paint and exhibit some small paintings last year, they have become popular and easy to collect.

Please visit the gallery to experience this work in person: 

Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays noon-5pm

EVENTS:

Black Paint, Book Release Party for Dickson Schneider

Conversation with the author and signing:

Saturday, February 21, 2026, 1:00pm

Three Girls, Closing Celebration:

Saturday February 28, 2026, 3-5pm