Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits
Matthew Rolston, Triptych in the Style of an Altarpiece: Untitled (Child I), Untitled (Smiling I), Untitled (Child II), Palermo, 2013 (detail)
From the series Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits
© Copyright Matthew Rolston. All rights reserved. Courtesy Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles
A site-specific installation debuting a significant triptych from photographer, artist and alumnus Matthew Rolston's most recent series of compelling photographic images.
On view September 20 to November 9, 2025
OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, September 20, 6 p.m.
Matthew Rolston's Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits, on view in ArtCenter’s South Campus Oculus Space – at the apex of the new Mullin Transportation Design Center – is conceived of as not just an homage to the accomplished mid-career artist, but also as the introduction of an evocative new body of work, one that addresses intertwined narratives of human existence, beauty and the grotesque, and the power of art to connect with the beyond.
Created in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily, the three photographs presented at ArtCenter comprise the artist’s triptych, which depicts two mummified children flanking an elderly adult, representing the dichotomies of sacred and secular, youth and age, life and death. Vanitas furthers Rolston's exploration of beauty, mortality, and the cultural histories embedded in portraiture.
ArtCenter’s presentation of Vanitas marks the launch of a multi-venue series of exhibitions across the city of Los Angeles showcasing Rolston’s Vanitas project and coincides with the release of a limited-edition monograph published by Nazraeli Press. A collector's edition of only 500 copies, this first printing of Matthew Rolston's Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits is exquisitely crafted, with richly detailed four-color reproduction on grandly scaled clay-coated sock and bound in linen over boards. Presented in a luxurious linen covered clamshell case, the publication features texts by the artist and by American author, photography critic and journalist Philip Gefter, and a foreword excerpted from cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker's seminal work, The Denial of Death (1973). For more information on the publication, please visit vanitasproject.com/monograph.
Photographer, artist and ArtCenter alumnus Matthew Rolston has presented 15 solo exhibitions, participated in 28 group shows, and published six monographs of his photography. His works are in the permanent collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, NY, and the National Portrait Gallery (Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture at The Smithsonian, Washington D.C.) among others.
Rolston’s many accolades now include ArtCenter’s Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing both his artistic achievements and his enduring contributions to the College, including the creation of a named scholarship, as a faculty member, and as a curricular advisor and mentor.
Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits at ArtCenter represents one in a series of four exhibitions across the city of Los Angeles simultaneously presenting different aspects of Rolston’s Vanitas project. For more information on the related exhibitions, see details below.
Concurrent with Rolston's Vanitas exhibition, select works by Rolston’s may be seen on view as part of the group exhibition Queer Lens: A History of Photography at the Getty Center, curated by Paul Martineau, Curator of Photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Mullin Transportation Design Center
Oculus Space, 2nd Floor
South Campus
950 S. Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91105
Gallery Hours:
Open daily 8 a.m.–7 p.m.
(Please check in at the security desk upon arrival)
FREE
Connect
Works in the Exhibition
Vanitas Documentary
This film follows artist Matthew Rolston in Palermo, Sicily; it documents the production process of Vanitas.
Written by Alessandra Pasquino, Matthew Rolston, and Sean Nalaboff. Directed by Alessandra Pasquino. Edited by Sean Nalaboff. (TRT: 16:11)
Events
September 20, 2025
6 p.m.
Oculus Space, 2nd Floor
Mullin Transportation Design Center
South Campus
Opening Reception
ArtCenter College of Design celebrates artist Matthew Rolston at an opening reception for Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits. Meet the artist, enjoy engaging conversations, refreshments, and a first look at this hauntingly beautiful installation, one that redefines the boundaries of photography and fine art.
Free. RSVP required.
Related Programming at ArtCenter
FullCircle Presents Matthew Rolston: ArtCenter’s 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Matthew Rolston, a distinguished alumnus of ArtCenter College of Design, has been a leading voice in photography, entertainment, advertising and image-making since beginning his career in 1977 while still a student at the College. In this talk, moderated by noted Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, and The New York Times journalist and cultural critic Christina Binkley, Rolston will share his history, including his image-making philosophy, the artistic influences that have shaped his career and his lifelong involvement with ArtCenter. He will also discuss his Vanitas project, the subject of a multi-venue exhibition across Los Angeles..
FREE with purchase of a Legacy in Motion event general registration or FullCircle Brunch.
October 12, 2025
2 p.m.
Flex Space, Room 230
Mullin Transportation Design Center
South Campus
Eternity and Dust: Matthew Rolston’s Vanitas
Exhibition Talk
Photographer and artist Matthew Rolston engages in conversation with a leading cultural critic to explore Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits, his latest fine art series and limited-edition book from Nazraeli Press.
Created in the shadowed corridors of Palermo’s Capuchin Catacombs, Vanitas offers an unblinking encounter with centuries-old Christian mummies—faces held in a delicate suspension between life and oblivion. Through painterly hues and sculptural light, Rolston renders them not as relics, but as haunting presences, radiant with memory and loss. The work meditates on the fragility of the flesh, the persistence of devotion, and the mystery of what waits beyond.
The talk concludes with a book signing by the artist.
FREE with RSVP.
Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis; an RSVP does not guarantee admission.
Related Exhibitions - Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits
ArtCenter is one of four venues showing works from Rolston’s Vanitas project.
Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles
Opening reception, Thursday, September 25, at 7 p.m.
On view thru Saturday, November 8, 2025
148 N. La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
FREE
Daido Moriyama Museum / Daido Star Space, Los Angeles
Opening reception, book launch and artist signing, Tuesday, September 30, at 6:30 p.m.
On view thru Wednesday, October 22, 2025
The Reef, 1933 S. Broadway, Unit 1266, Los Angeles, CA (12th Floor)
Gallery Hours: By appointment. Contact studio@matthewrolston.com.
FREE
Leica Gallery, Los Angeles
Opening reception, artist talk and book signing, Sunday, October 26, at 1 p.m.
On view thru Sunday, November 2, 2025
8783 Beverly Blvd, West Hollywood, CA
Gallery Hours: Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday, 12 p.m.–5 p.m.
FREE