Bede Clarke: King’s Highway

September 18, 2026 - February 28, 2027 Admission

The Daum Museum of Contemporary Art presents Bede Clarke: King’s Highway, on view September 18, 2026, through February 28, 2027. Bringing together ceramics and works on paper, the exhibition examines Clarke’s enduring exploration of the vessel, drawing, and the expressive potential of the handmade mark.

For more than four decades, Clarke has investigated the relationship between form, surface, and touch. While the vessel remains central to his practice, his work extends beyond traditional ceramics through an ongoing dialogue with drawing, color, and gesture. The resulting works record both the physical act of making and the quiet rhythms that shape the creative process.

Clarke describes his practice as one guided by touch and by an intuitive response to both material and process: “I think I have always cast a pretty wide net in terms of my exploration of clay. Pots and the vessel have held the center but there has been a strong overlay of interest in drawing, color and leaving a trace of the hand. I navigate both the clay and drawing with an emphasis on ‘touch’ and a felt response to the materials and to my own inner rhythms and sensibilities. I am guided by a dialogue with the work and find myself in agreement when it speaks in a voice that has commitment and conviction, but also the allure of mystery and enigma. I am always most pleased when the work strikes a balance between wildness and restraint. Through all this work I am most interested in distinguishing the record, the moment of the hand touching clay, and the actual quality of feeling surrounding the work.”

The exhibition highlights Clarke’s sustained interest in balancing spontaneity with restraint, allowing each object to embody both the evidence of its making and a sense of quiet contemplation. Through layered surfaces, expressive line, and carefully considered form, King’s Highway invites viewers to consider clay as both a material and a record of human experience.

Bede Clarke is Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he taught ceramics from 1992 to 2021. He received an MFA from the University of Iowa and a BFA from Eckerd College. His work is represented in museum collections throughout the United States and internationally, including the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, the Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, the Icheon World Ceramic Center, the South Bend Museum of Art, the Martin Museum of Art, and the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art. Clarke lives and works in Columbia, Missouri.