BRUSH WITH NEW TALENT

Dana “DJ” Jazayeri’s art gallery is a constant work in progress.

Every month, after a show is taken down, Jazayeri paints the walls

white to cover up anything that might have been particular to the

previous exhibition -- including the gallery’s logo. Then he allows

artists from the next installation to paint a new logo design.

“The artists put their touch on the gallery when they come,” said

Jazayeri, owner and curator of Subject Matter Gallery. “I don’t think

a solid sign matters.”

The walls inside the Costa Mesa gallery have been blank all week.

That’s about to change as a new show, “Nothing Between Us,” moves in

Saturday.

About 40 new works from five women artists will fill one side of

the spacious room, which also includes a retail section with various

lines of apparel.

Jazayeri, a 23-year-old Irvine resident, opened the space to

showcase young artists and allow visitors to shop. New exhibitions

are installed monthly. Jazayeri typically groups artists together for

the show.

Some exhibitions have clear themes: A recent one highlighted

street and graffiti artists. Others are a mixture of topics and

genres.

“We try to show sides of life that you don’t often see in Orange

County,” Jazayeri said.

This exhibition, which looks at art from a female perspective,

runs until Sept. 26. The show comprises new works from Sylvia Ji,

Heather Culp, Fumi Nakamura, Pamela Henderson and Caitlin Kuhwald.

Most of the artists will be at an opening reception Saturday,

which will feature the music of Elsewhere DJs.

The art in “Nothing Between Us” is largely illustration-based.

Many works depict fantastical scenes and have cartoon-like

characters. Portraits of women appear in many of the pieces, such as

Ji’s painting “Lush,” which portrays a voluptuous woman in the

foreground.

Ji said this is the first time she has participated in an Orange

County exhibition.

“It’s exciting to work with young artists and to make

connections,” said Ji, a Sherman Oaks resident. Her work deals with

the urban landscape and includes many pieces with sexual overtones.

Culp focuses on photography, and Henderson made the only sculpture

in the show, a miniature house raised on stilts and sitting atop a

green landing.

Kuhwald, a resident of Philadelphia, is a freelance illustrator

who said she rarely shows her art in galleries. Although she isn’t

coming to Southern California for this weekend’s opening, Kuhwald is

showing six pieces at the exhibition and plans to see the other

artists’ work.

“It’s easy to get out of touch, and this is a good way to see what

other artists are doing,” she said.

Jazayeri, who has been collecting art since he was 15, said he

enjoys the detail of the artists’ work.

“A lot of these artists, they rely on this type of exhibition for

exposure,” he said. “It’s a way to find and show new talent.”

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623o7.

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