Wayne Sides – Human Traces

From September 18 to October 17 the exhibition “Human Traces” by Wayne Sides is on show at Palazzo Panichi in Pietrasanta.
In his work Sides examines the stereotypes within the cultures of both Italy and the United States on minorities, using collage of his photos and historical and contemporary images from various sources.
The exhibition by Sides strengthens the good relations of cultural exchange between the Alabama State Council for the Arts and the town of Pietrasanta. In fact, Sides’ investigations began in Pietrasanta in 2008, when he came as a member of the delegation of Alabama, exploring the region, with particular interest in civil rights in Italy. On that occasion he visited Pisa and Prato, among other places, and spoke with local gypsy and Chinese communities, and other non EU ethnic groups in Italy. He discovered a new and unexpected situation, and went on to document this in detail using his camera. In 2009 he came back and made further enquiries, which led to this invitation, from the town council, to exhibit his works in Pietrasanta.

Short biography
Wayne Sides is both an artist and teacher, known for his photography and original artistic language. Sides received a bachelor’s degree in visual and performance arts from the University of Alabama and a master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Pratt Institute, New York, in 1983. He has worked as an ‘artist-in-residence’ at the Southwest State University of Marshall, Minnesota, at the New York Federation for the Arts, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Alabama State Council of the Arts. He presently teaches photography in the Arts Faculty at the University of North Alabama.
Sides gained international recognition in the late 70’s for his photographs of the Ku Klux Klan.