Michael Dixon is an American oil painter whose work grapples with identity, race, and belonging. Born in San Diego, California, he earned his Master of Fine Arts (Painting) from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting & Drawing) from Arizona State University.

Dixon is currently a Full Professor and Chair of the Art & Art History Department at Albion College in Albion, Michigan, where he has taught since 2008.

Over his career, he has been awarded numerous grants and honors, including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, a Joan Mitchell Foundation Emergency Grant, Puffin Foundation support, the Blanchard Fellowship, and the Phi Beta Kappa Scholar of the Year Award. He has also been invited to residencies at such prestigious institutions as the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Joan Mitchell Center, and the Ragdale Foundation.

Dixon’s paintings are represented in public and private collections, including the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art, and the personal collections of fellow artists Nick Cave and Beverly McIver. His exhibitions span national and international venues—including museums, universities, art centers, alternative spaces, and galleries across the U.S. and abroad, in locations such as New York and Istanbul.

At the heart of Dixon’s work is a deeply personal exploration of racial identity. As a biracial artist, he navigates the tensions of self-perception, societal perception, and cultural belonging. His imagery frequently uses self-portraiture and symbolic props to insert himself into narratives of race, visibility, and vulnerability. He has said:

“I use self-portraiture as a narrative device to explore areas of identity, race, identity perception, African American history, and social justice.”

Dixon cites as influences artists such as Robert Colescott, Beverly McIver, Michael Ray Charles, Glenn Ligon, and Kerry James Marshall. Through his work, he contributes a nuanced, introspective voice to ongoing conversations about race, representation, and the complexities of living between cultural identities.