Italian, b. 1953 Born in Italy and widely hailed as one of the greatest draughtsmen of his generation, Tanino Liberatore is a master of "hyper-realism fueled by anarchy." From an early age, Liberatore used drawing as an obsessive outlet to explore the human form, eventually honing a style so anatomically precise and muscular that it earned him the moniker "The Michelangelo of Comics." His work is defined by a visceral, uncompromising energy that marries classical Italian artistry with a gritty, industrial sensibility. Liberatore secured his place in comic history through his collaboration with writer Stefano Tamburini on the legendary character RanXerox. Originally appearing in radical Italian magazines like Cannibale and Frigidaire, RanXeroxa hyper-masculine, oversexed psycho-cyborg built from photocopier parts and raw flesh, became a global counter-culture icon. Alongside his partner Lubna, Ranx’s misadventures through a dystopian future were a tour de force of "id-driven" chaos, rendered with Liberatore’s breathtakingly detailed and innovative use of color. Introduced to American audiences in the pages of Heavy Metal in 1983, Liberatore’s work transcended the comic medium to influence the broader aesthetic of the 1980s. His portfolio includes iconic covers for Marvel’s Savage Sword of Conan and the unforgettable cover for Frank Zappa’s The Man from Utopia LP. Today, Liberatore continues to produce drawings and paintings that push the boundaries of the beautiful and the grotesque, most recently collected in the 2019 volume Body Count.