SAN DIEGO - July 14, 2020 - Emerging visual artist Jacob Clayton is proud to represent the transgender art community with two new mixed media pieces from his current project Deprivation of Self, Portraits. The photo-based self portraits fuse his body with iconic imagery rooted in our collective consciousness to challenge gender identity, expression, and expectation – from every side.

The Studio Door's Hillcrest gallery presents the third national edition of the fine art exhibition PROUD+. Fourty-five artists from fourteen states will be expressing the LGBTQ community's quest for freedom, equality, and visibility through their artistry.

Exhibition juror, Hunter O'Hanian, is Executive Director of Stonewall National Museum & Archives (SNMA) in Fort Lauderdale & Wilton Manors, Florida. One of the largest gay archives and libraries in the US, Stonewall inspires and promotes understanding through collecting, preserving and sharing the proud culture of LGBTQ Americans. Mr. O'Hanian has an illustrious career in the arts, which has included being the head of the College Art Association; a founding director of the Leslie-Lohan Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art; and Director of the Foundation for Massachusetts College of Art & Design.

PROUD+ opens Tuesday, July 7th and will run through Saturday, July 25th, in tandem with San Diego Pride month. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday Noon-7 PM or by appointment. Masks, social distancing and safe passage through the gallery will be a part of this year's participation. View more details at http://thestudiodoor.com.

About Jacob Clayton:
Jacob Clayton is a self-taught artist who uses photography, collage, and mixed media as means to communicate his experience living for decades as a closeted transgender man in America. Learn more at https://jacobclayton.com.