Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/20/2025
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location
ArtCenter South Campus
Category(ies)
“Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits” (Photo – ArtCenter)
ArtCenter College of Design announces Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits, 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 in ArtCenter’s South Campus Oculus space–at the apex of the new Mullin Transportation Design Center–the exhibition, curated by Julie Joyce, Director of ArtCenter Galleries, 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. The installation 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 depicting two mummified children flanking an elderly adult, representing the dichotomies of sacred and secular, youth and age, and 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.
The installation will be open to the public from September 20-November 9. Gallery hours are 8:00 am – 7:00 pm daily.
> For more information and to register for the opening reception, click here.
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