Swedish glass artist Bertil Vallien, now 88, has opened a major solo exhibition titled "Starman: Sixty Years of Exploring Glass Art" at the Robert Lehman Gallery in Brooklyn. The show features 35 works spanning his 64-year career, highlighting his mastery of sand-casting and his long collaboration with the heritage brand Kosta Boda. Notable pieces include the *Resting Head* series, *Idun’s Magical Apples*, and the *Ships* series, which draw on Norse mythology and themes of life cycles.
The exhibition matters because it offers a comprehensive retrospective of an artist credited with perfecting modern glass sand-casting and popularizing black glass. Vallien’s ability to move between commercial design and fine art has reshaped the global glass landscape, and his partnership with Kosta Boda—a brand with nearly 300 years of history—underscores the enduring intersection of craft and industry. The show is open through June 7, 2026, at UrbanGlass.