Dinette by Kostas Pavlidis
All images courtesy of Strawberry Gallery
Found objects, glass in fully saturated colours, and steel frames unite Dinette by Kostas Pavlidis, currently on show at Strawberry Gallery in Brunswick. Though I make a point to go in and see what the gallery has in store for me each time they pop up with something new, this is the first show I have seen from Pavlidis since his inclusion at Strawberry’s Spring1883 showing in 2025. Strawberry feels uniquely apt for this work. Both the show and the gallery seem to be held together by sheer force (the front wall of Strawberry consistently feels like a feat of engineering; Pavlidis’ works held together by welding).
The bulk of the show is on the walls - windows of glass, of found objects, of clothes, all condensed into equi-sized diamonds. The framed glass works have the depth of skies and the gloss of hard candy – reminding me of Pavlidis’ glass handbags from Spring. It is in the other works, the ones containing found hooks, fragments of walls with wallpaper intact, and clothes, that you get the sense of what Pavlidis is really capturing – moments, people, and memory. For being so solid, encased in steel, these works are remarkably tender. Paul, one of the wall mounted works, is an identity fashioned from clothes and steel. The table that greets you at the door feels much the same; a quasi school uniform of a tartan skirt and pink tweed blazer. Like a 12 year old’s gossip girl dream of private school, echoing a frat boy vision of adulthood in “Paul.”
Each show at Strawberry feels like a continuation. Of all the galleries in Melbourne, they are one of the few that feels to have an ongoing conversation happening between exhibitions - each show a chapter, not a finished story. I would also argue that they’re one of the few galleries that are truly and consistently putting on interesting shows.
Do I always like them? No.
Do I always want to know what they’re doing next? Yes, absolutely.
More than anything, Strawberry is secure in its identity, hopefully harkening in a new age of young Melbourne galleries. Pavlidis’ work – whether in a hotel room or in Brunswick – is as unique as the gallery is. If you’ve never made it to Strawberry before, I urge that this show is what changes that for you.
Dinette is on until Saturday June 13.