Bijijoo has painted portraits of every U.S. president from Washington to Trump holding a large ham. I immediately suspected that Trump might have actually attempted to sell hams, but all I could find was the steaks.
The Presidential Ham was conceived in 2006, following a friend's introduction to the concept of "larding" wherein one leaves a chunk of lard on an unsuspecting person's porch for later discovery. Larding evolved into the act of leaving unusual items at an unsuspecting person's home in order to surprise and astonish. In 2006, a huge portrait of Richard Nixon cradling a ham was completed and gifted to the friend. Following the completion of that painting, years were spent practicing painting techniques and researching the characters and physical characteristics of the presidents in preparation for undertaking the full project. A papier-mâchéd cornucopia obtained from a thrift store was used as a model for the hams which appear in the paintings. The portraits took six months to complete and were finished in June 2010.
