Montclair Art Fair Features Bridgewater Photographer's 'Affordable' Works

He has been in numerous art shows in New Jersey, California, Virginia, Maryland and New York — and now Bridgewater resident Kevin Hinkle will be showing off his photography work at "Collecting Art: An Affordable Art Fair" at the Montclair Art Museum this weekend.

“Hopefully people will take advantage of the opportunity to visit a fair where there is good work that is accessibly priced,” Hinkle said. “You don’t have to be a millionaire to incorporate art into your life.”

The art fair will be held at the museum on South Mountain Avenue on Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the show is free.

Hinkle said this is a juried affordable art fair, which means artists have to apply to be included. 

“A juried art show means that any number of people submit their work for consideration and there is one or two jurors who select what will be shown based on what they are looking for in their show,” he said. 

This time, Hinkle said, there were 108 applicants, and 25 were selected to participate.

Hinkle submitted his layered photographs, where he has taken up to four images and layered them on top of one another to create an entirely new photograph.

“I do a lot of abstracts too, but what I submitted was the layered photographs,” he said. “I don’t see a lot of it around, so I thought it would be a little bit different. It looks a bit like painting, so I just thought it might be appealing for that kind of setting, perhaps a little more unique.”

Hinkle said a friend of his initially showed him how to layer photographs.

“Then I just started experimenting with different types of images,” he said. “I might have a tree, and then stone, or a tree and a metal piece or something.”

Hinkle said he didn’t study art and photography in college, but he did take some courses at the School of Visual Arts and at the International Center of Photography, both in New York City.

Hinkle is a resident artist at Gallery 13 in Asbury Park. He teaches English as a Second Language at Raritan Valley Community College.

Aside from Hinkle’s work, the affordable art fair will feature other photographs, felt sculptures, multimedia portraits and more.