On Thursday, October 8, the special exhibition Het Gevecht om de Ruimte (The Battle for Space) by artist Joe Finch opens at Merlet, an initiative of rural real estate agent Geert Klaver.
Program October 8
17:30: Reception with bites and drinks in the Merlet Lounge.
18:00: Official opening by a special guest. Subsequently, Joe Finch will personally guide you through the works. During this guided tour, he talks about the origins of The Battle for Space, the stories behind the twelve artworks, and his unique working method.
The official opening lasts until approximately 7:30 PM.
Reserve your place here for the festive opening of The Battle for Space.
Complete the evening
After the opening, you can continue the evening with a culinary experience at Merlet. Choose a special artist's dinner in Restaurant Merlet or enjoy the seasonal menu in Grand Café Bourgogne. In this way, art, the North Holland landscape, gastronomy, and social interaction come together during one evening.
Opening & artist dinner at Restaurant Merlet
Opening & dinner at Grand Café Bourgogne
Opening & dinner in Restaurant Merlet & overnight stay
Book here for the opening, the artist's dinner at Restaurant Merlet and overnight stay (4-course dinner at Restaurant Merlet, including wine, water, coffee/tea and petit fours, and overnight stay based on 2 people in a spacious room from October 8 to 9. The price is 249.00 euros per person)
12 artworks, one story
Geert Klaver took Joe Finch on an inspirational tour through the polders and nature reserves of North Holland. From the monks of Egmond, who helped lay the foundation of the current landscape a thousand years ago, to the dilemmas of today.
This journey provided the inspiration for 12 unique artworks in which farmers, townspeople and country folk, nature and technology, and past and future meet.
For this, Joe Finch uses works by 16th- and 17th-century masters and adds unexpected elements from our own time. With photography, digital image editing, paint, aging, and his self-developed Anachronistic Transfer Process, he blends old and new so convincingly that his interventions appear to be part of the original painting.
In doing so, Finch deliberately pushes the boundaries. His work amazes, stimulates, and contains humor, but at the same time holds up a mirror to us. In addition, 77 limited editions have been produced of each of the twelve works.
About Joe Finch
Joe Finch began his career as an analog photographer and, driven by his fascination with the old masters, developed a completely unique artistic approach. For years, he immersed himself in historical painting techniques, types of wood, varnish, crackle, aging, and authentic museum frames.
In 2024, his art even literally reached the moon: three works by Finch were included in an art collection aboard the Odysseus lunar lander.
An inspiring exhibition exploring landscape, scarcity and connection, centred around one pressing question: how do we share our limited space when housing, industry, agriculture, recreation, nature, defence and energy are all competing for the same land?
Rather than taking sides, The Battle for Space invites you to explore new perspectives, spark meaningful conversations and discover the value of mutual understanding. Because when physical space becomes scarce, creating room for understanding may be the most valuable thing we can do.
Join us for the official opening on 8 October at Merlet and experience The Battle for Space for yourself. Reserve your place today!
