The Future Perfect is proud to announce UV, an exhibition of new works from John Hogan. With his stunning new glass work, which has been thoughtfully installed alongside various iterations of the titular light form, Hogan has further delved into his examination of light as a sculptural form. This new work explores how light can be complicated, interrogated and contextualized as a medium. “My hope” says Hogan “is to show that there is no neutral context for this work and that it is always acutely activated, even when not readily visible.” UV is now on view at our San Francisco location.

Light is a proactive and integral component of my sculptural practice. It’s not just an ephemeral, environmental condition into which my glass is placed, but an important part of the sculpture itself. This has always been the case for me, at times more subtly than others. For this body of work, I wanted to ask myself: how can light be complicated, interrogated and contextualized as a medium?

I think about the different aspects of light – not just the visible “light” we can see, but light as an invisible substance; a radioactivity. UV light (specifically, UV‑B) causes the body to produce vitamin D, which is essential for life. Humans need some UV radiation to maintain adequate levels of vitamin D. Vitamin D in turn promotes healthy levels of serotonin. I like to think we aren’t entirely dissimilar from plants in this way. We thrive through our own type of photosynthesis. 

Just like any other type of radiation, too much light can be harmful. I wanted to make work that simultaneously shows that light not only exists on a color/visibility spectrum, but also a spectrum of growth and harm. That light, like water or heat, is something both essential and fundamentally powerful. This body of work was conceptualized as a reaction to UV light. It’s purpose is to make the invisible visible. To show how what we perceive as matter is dependent on invisible fields of energy, and that those fields of energy can be perceived through the right conditions. This work is meant to change shape with the light. 

To show this, I have intermittently affected this work with black light displays in both photographs and exhibition. I use the black lights (which are a more concentrated form of UV light that shows the natural fluorescence of the glass) not as static environments but as editorial interludes. My hope is to show that there is no neutral context for this work & that it’s always acutely activated, even when not readily visible.