Future Retrieval, the studio collaboration of former University of Cincinnati faculty Katie Parker and Guy Michael Davis, appropriates imagery and forms from historical objects to create new art that speaks to our twenty-first-century experience. Their practice is rooted in ceramic art, but also incorporates a diverse mix of media and techniques that combine age-old methods with new technologies. For this exhibition, Future Retrieval will take over two museum galleries as project spaces where they will construct an unconventional response to objects “borrowed” from the Cincinnati Art Museum’s decorative art and design collection. In pairing their own work with objects from the museum’s collection, the artists will create an experience that encourages visitors to consider aspects of our historical collections and practices in a new light.

This exhibition will be featured while Cincinnati hosts the 55th Annual NCECA Conference, scheduled for March 17–20, 2021. The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts brings together thousands of national and international artists, teachers, students, and other art professionals for a week of ceramic-focused programming, collaboration and dialogue.