4 March 2026 – 31 March 2026
GAP Window is pleased to present its seventh exhibition, Protection Spell, opening on 4 March 2026. Continuing the project’s commitment to transforming public space into a site of reflection and dialogue, this exhibition brings together a growing body of sculptural works by Irish multimedia artist Eoin O’Dowd.
About the Exhibition
Protection Spell – devotional offerings hammered into steel and materials reclaimed from construction sites. These images merge spiritual symbols with those of labour. In workplaces where we spend much of our finite lives often without purpose, community or solace, these objects ask: Do we have a collective need for the immaterial as well as the material?
Made through repetitive, physical effort, the work reflects on the spiritual void – the sense that something essential has been taken or lost, and nothing has been given in its place.
About the Artist
Eoin O’Dowd’s work examines the psychological and spiritual toll of alienating labour under capitalism, questioning our desire for both the immaterial and the material. Using reclaimed factory materials, field recordings, and devotional symbolism, O’Dowd invites viewers to explore the complex relationship between capital and labour, and its physical, psychological, and spiritual impacts.
Their work addresses the exploitation of physical and intellectual labour, while questioning the loss of communal and spiritual value in an alienating, consumer-driven society. Eoin O’Dowd is an Irish artist living and working in Helsinki. Their work has been exhibited internationally and is held in private collections. A recipient of the 2025 Kone Foundation working grant, they previously coordinated Eight Gallery Dublin (2013–2018), a non-profit space supporting experimental practice.
In the GAP Window
Presented in the GAP Window at Malminkatu 5, Protection Spell places these metal votives within public view, inviting passersby to encounter a quiet yet urgent meditation on labor, injury, and collective psychic wounds. The exhibition continues to evolve, reflecting an ongoing process rather than a fixed conclusion.
GAP WINDOW is a window exhibition project initiated by Globe Art Point in 2021. The concept was created for the members of GAP Creatives Database with an aim to provide a unique opportunity to exhibit and/or experiment with their own artistic work and ideas.
Our window is visible from the street, you do not need a special access to see it.