Breaking the (Swedish) Glass Ceiling: “Fluidity” Celebrates Women Glass Artists

MINNEAPOLIS — October 11, 2022 — An immersive exhibit of light, sound, color and gorgeous art glass will dazzle visitors as it illuminates artists on journeys of identity and self at the American Swedish Institute. The new exhibit, Fluidity: Identity in Swedish Glass, invites museum guests to walk through the looking glass and immerse themselves in an intricate light mosaic art experience within a darkened, sound-scaped gallery. The exhibit, running February 1-May 28, 2023, celebrates achievements of undertold and unheard voices from within the Swedish and American glass art communities.

The exhibition opens in February and includes a sensory-stirring installation of glass, light, liquid and sound by contemporary Swedish-American glass artist Jo Andersson, Being. The show will also feature a curated selection of glass art by unsung artists from the American Swedish Institute’s impressive glass collection—representing nearly 1000 objects and over 100 years of glass artistry—considered one of the finest collections of Swedish art glass outside the Nordic region.

Fluidity will showcase objects from well-known artisans Ann Wolff (Warff) and Ingeborg Lundin for Orrefors, and iconic designer Ulrica Hydman Vallien’s creations for Kosta Boda, alongside unsung artists Eva Englund, Monica Bratt, Monica Backstrom, Andrea Blum and Mona Morales Schildt. The artists featured have operated both under and outside the umbrella of Sweden’s glass studios like Orrefors and Kosta Boda are each in their own way challenging and shaping the glass industry in Sweden and around the world. Their work has paved the way for contemporary women glass artists and influenced the trajectory of the world-renowned Swedish glass industry.

“We are thrilled to focus on artists who are underrecognized and overshadowed, as well as contemporary artists processing adversity, self-acceptance, and empowerment,” says Ingrid Nyholm-Lange, Director of Experience, ASI. “Fluidity invites visitors to become part of the community, to be present in the moment and to explore the pursuit of artistic expression in a challenging and complex medium — while experiencing gorgeous visuals of color, reflection and light.”

Artist Jo Andersson, who lives in Sweden and practices and teaches in the country’s Småland region, elaborates. “Being is an installation intended to bring individuals into the present moment, a safe space where viewers can lose themselves and fully experience my work as well as their responses to it. Each handblown Light Vessel is a tool for meditation, personal insight and contemplation—the shapes are inspired by the fluidity of glass which creates these organic, flowing forms. The vessels are filled with water to increase a feeling of magnitude as well as intensify their interactions with light.”

Regular hours for the museum, FIKA Café, and the Museum Shore are 10 am to 8 pm on Thursdays, and 10 am to 4 pm on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

General admission, which offers access to all exhibitions on view, as well as the historic Turnblad Mansion. For the most up to date admission prices, please visit the hour & admissions page. Walk-up museum admission is available. Visitors are also welcome to register for museum admission in advance. Special events have individual pricing, see the ASI Events online for details.

American Swedish Institute (ASI), designated to the National Register for Historic Places, is a historic castle-like mansion, museum and cultural center, and a gathering place for all people to explore diverse experiences of migration, identity, belonging, and the environment through arts and culture, informed by enduring links to Sweden. ASI, which The Wall Street Journal calls “[a] model of how a small institution can draw visitors through exciting programming,” is located at 2600 Park Avenue in Minneapolis. For more, visit asimn.org.

Media Contact: Darby Johnson, Public Relations Specialist

Photo credit: David Puig Serinya