Baltimore’s naked Ham is back.
Just weeks after police used a cherry picker to pluck a nude man from an empty pedestal near the Inner Harbor, the man has returned. And he has more to say.
The man, a performance artist who goes by the name Ham, reappeared on a pedestal in the Mount Vernon neighborhood Sunday.
Clad in a black Speedo and aviator sunglasses, he sat beneath a sky-blue umbrella atop the pedestal that once held a statue of Roger B. Taney in the historic Baltimore neighborhood.
The monument was left empty in 2017 after citizens criticized the tribute to Taney, a divisive political figure who was condemned for his hallmark decision as a U.S. Supreme Court justice to deny slaves citizenship in the Dred Scott case.
That history was a beacon of inspiration for Ham as he embarked on the fifth installation of a performance he said is meant as a political commentary on the First Amendment and freedom.
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Ham argued that Taney improperly injected politics into the Supreme Court’s decision-making, drawing parallels to today.
“If you think about where we are today, 170-ish years later, we are experiencing a similar scenario,” he said. “I want to remind people that, behind the like veil of superiority, anyone that sits behind a bench on a chair is just a naked animal covered in robes.”
According to Ham, the performance has two purposes: making a statement and encouraging conversation.
Although he would have preferred to be fully nude again, the choice to wear a Speedo on Sunday was a compromise to continue his art without being arrested again.
Ham’s previous installation at an empty pedestal that had been occupied by a statue of Christopher Columbus near the Inner Harbor was not the first time he was detained, but it was his first time being charged, he said.
A similar rendition he did in New York City ended with him in handcuffs. He said police arrested him and later issued a formal apology for violating his right to free speech.
Talking down from his pedestal, Ham defended his art. He argued that his performances are artistic expression protected by the First Amendment.
“I’m not soliciting anybody’s interaction,” he said.
As he explained this, a man walking past shouted to him. A 40-ounce can of beer in hand, the man chuckled and yelled, “you’re crazy as a motherf---er.”
Ham giggled and bid the man a good day before he sauntered off.
His encounter with the Baltimore Police Department on the Fourth of July ended differently, with him being taken away in a police van, shackled and cuffed.
“But that moment was the purpose of the project,” Ham said. “Being face down, completely naked in chains with five or six cops standing over me having just been doing a peaceful public performance slash like demonstration of art.”
His choice to continue the performance in stillness not only drew the eyes of others but confused police officers, he said. After hours of having to carry him around, he said, police eventually grew tired and left him at a hospital.
The police’s decision to leave him stranded was a departure from his expectation of going to jail. Notwithstanding criminal charges, the show must go on.
Ham is holding an art show Sept. 3, the night before his trial. The exhibit will feature photography and drawings from those who participated in the project documenting his poses.
After that, he plans on leaving Baltimore for a while. Where’s he going? Canada, he thinks.
Correction: Ham’s name was misspelled as “Hamb” in an earlier version of this story.
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