ENVIRONMENTAL ART : Pretty landscapes are fine, but there’s more to nature.

“The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:

Little we see in Nature that is ours.”

--William Wordsworth

The poet’s lament for man’s alienation from nature is used in the program notes of “The Death and Resurrection of Nature” to illustrate the theme of this wide-ranging show that ends its monthlong run Saturday at Loyola Marymount University’s Laband Art Gallery.

Although the show narrowly fits the definition for “environmental” exhibits that have come into vogue in recent years, “The Death and Resurrection of Nature” provides more than simple social commentary on the state of nature and humankind’s threat to the natural world, show curator Tim Jahns said.

“I would hope that this show would revive people’s excitement about nature, not as a politically correct cause but as something that is essential to us as an artistic, inspirational and spiritual cause,” he said.

The show, which features works by both renowned and emerging artists, covers a range of contemporary styles and philosophical approaches to the subject of nature. But this is not a collection of bucolic landscapes. The artists muse over nature’s mystery and gifts, celebrate her form and cycles, and decry her despoliation.

The documentary photography of Richard Misrach gives way to the spare minimalist sculptures of Wolfgang Laib. The subtle and humorous art of Laura Parker and Lynn Aldrich accompany a mystical installation by Kim Yasuda and the philosophical charcoal renderings of Eric Snell.

The show’s diversity creates a sophisticated statement that demands reflection, said Gordon Fuglie, director of the Laband Art Gallery. Some of the approximately 40 works in the exhibit were produced specifically for the Laband show.

Greeting visitors outside the gallery is Barbara McCarren’s six-foot-tall house, which appears to be slowly sinking into the ground. Stones surrounding the leaning building are etched with the words of essayist Henry David Thoreau. The piece works on several levels, Jahns said, providing a commentary on public art while mocking man’s attempts to tame nature.

“It’s a funny piece but also dead serious,” Jahns said.

One work by Kim Yasuda leads visitors from inside the gallery, through a high window and then to a ficus tree outside, making a connection between human space and nature, Jahns said.

A video by Bill Viola featuring a surgery in progress comments on “the body as a sacred but increasingly corrupted vessel of nature.” While some works are critical and at times disturbing, others carry messages of inspiration and rebirth. Together, the works in the exhibit should help viewers re-evaluate their definition of and relationship to their environment, and help them recall the primitive yet profound lessons of the natural world.

“I hope (the show will) surprise people and, not shock them, but move them in ways they might not be (moved) by traditional work,” Jahns said.

“I hope people will come away with renewed sensitivity to nature and its aesthetic and spiritual dimensions. Perhaps something that we take for granted or have forgotten will be reawakened.”

Admission to the gallery is free. The Laband Art Gallery is on the campus of Loyola Marymount University, 7101 80th St., Westchester. The gallery will be closed Friday. Gallery hours on Saturday are noon to 4 p.m. Information: (310) 338-2880.