Erin Currier: “I have wanted to paint Mike Tyson for years now— as much for his humility, curiosity, and authenticity as for his greatness. As he himself stated, “If you're not humble in this world, then the world will throw humbleness upon you."
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Tyson is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990. Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. Claiming his first belt at 20 years, four months, and 22 days old, Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title. He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, as well as the only heavyweight to unify them in succession. The following year, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds of the first round.
Mike Tyson has overcome great personal suffering— losses early on of beloved family members, being bullied, childhood involvement in street gangs and with crime, addiction, stints in prison, and so forth... yet his dedication and discipline to his passion, as well as a deep sense of spiritual inquiry, has guided him back to his path time and again. Most admirably, he came out of retirement to fight in his fifties! He also speaks openly and honestly in interviews and on his podcast about his experimentation with psychotropics such as mushrooms and DMT as methods for healing trauma. He is married to Lakiha Spicer and has eight children.
My homage to him, like all my work, is comprised of post-consumer ephemera collected all over the world, including Muy Thai flyers from Thailand, adrenaline ammunition boxes, a torn poster from Sao Paolo, Brazil, Mexican Lotería cards, a Wish Tattoo sticker from San Diego, and a huevos carton from Prague.”
