Laband Art Gallery

The Presence of Absence: The Photographs of Richard Ehrlich
September 19 – November 22, 2009

Richard Ehrlich does not photograph people; yet, their existence is keenly felt in the ordinary objects and structures he depicts.  His haunting, color-saturated images evoke lives lived and remind us of the vulnerability we all share. The Presence of Absence includes selected images of abandoned diamond mines in Namibia; graffiti from the now-demolished Belmont Park, Los Angeles; a deserted, decaying Cook County Hospital in Chicago; a defunct sugar mill in Maui; and German archival documents that echo the individual lives consumed by the Holocaust.

Recent Press:

Los Angeles Times 9/30/09

Daily Breeze 9/18/09

Malibu Times  9/17/09

Art Scene September 2009

Public Programs:

An Evening of Dance and Discussion
Thursday, October 1, 2009, 7pm
Choreographer Kristen Smiarowski presents her dance-theater work, The Key Game, created in collaboration with composer Douglas C. Wadle and performed by Rebecca Pappas.  LMU student dancers Amanda Copple and Alex Crow will perform original pieces in response to Richard Ehrlich’s photographs. Dr. Paul Harris of LMU’s English Department will lead a discussion with Dr. Ron Marasco of LMU's Theatre Arts Program and Dr. Kathleen B. Jones responding to the performances and their relationship to the photographs.  Read More . . .

Gallery Walkthrough with Richard Ehrlich
Thursday, October 8, 2009, 12:30-1:30pm

Bellarmine Forum "Artists Speak" and Reception
Saturday, October 31, 2-6pm (program 2-4pm, reception 4-6pm)

Spring Show
TBA

Stay Tuned ....


26th Annual Juried Student Show
April 17 – May 8, 2010
Artists’ Reception and Award’s Ceremony, Thursday, April 29, 5-7 p.m.

This popular exhibition celebrates the art of LMU’s Studio Arts majors and non-majors. It presents the exciting and broad range of media and techniques currently being explored in the studio art programs at LMU.  Two jurors prominent in the Southern California arts community will select the works and create the layout of the exhibition.  The Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition and its cash awards are sponsored by Andrea Kingaard Friedman,’66.


Laband Art Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 pm.

Visitors from off campus are encouraged to visit the gallery on Saturdays and Sundays. The visitor parking lot (Hannon Lot/A), just south of the Burns Fine Arts Center, is often heavily congested during the week.

Parking and admission are free. For more information, please call (310) 338-2880.