Pull, Twist, Blow: Transforming the Kingdom of Crystal

Opens Saturday: Famous for their elegant hand-blown goblets and other tableware, Swedish glass artists are experimenting with new forms of crystalline fantasy. Eleven contemporary talents are featured in an expansive show that pairs more traditional pieces from the Glass Factory collection with such unconventional items as molten pitchers, glass dentures, "pickled" tongues, combs, a suitcase and a new landscape fashioned of glass by Ingalena Klenell, whose "Glimmering Gone" glass forest is shown here. The opening coincides with the institute's daylong Midsommar celebration Saturday. Fredrik Nielsen will give glass-blowing demonstrations on July 25 and 27. (Opening and ASI Midsommar celebration, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., $7 adults. American Swedish Institute, 2600 Park Av., Mpls. Ends Oct. 13, $7 adults. 612-871-4907 or www.asimn.org)

Mary Abbe