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Fiction (We Used to Be Closer Than This)

Type: Exhibition Opportunities [View all]
Posted by: Divisible Projects
Deadline: Tue, December 1st, 2026

“Fiction (We Used to Be Closer Than This)”

curated by Michael Conlan, Assistant Professor, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota

and Jeffrey Cortland Jones, Professor, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio

January 2027. University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota

February 2027. Divisible Projects, Dayton, Ohio

TBA . Middle Tennessee State University . Murfreesboro, Tennessee

 

In 2016, Jeffrey curated an exhibition at Divisible Projects, Dayton, Ohio, called “Fiction (With Only Daylight Between Us)”, which brought together over 200 artists from 16 countries for a social experiment based on a simple premise: what happens when a large group of artists from different places and backgrounds agrees to make something small and put it in the same room?

 

The answer turned out to be something much larger than a single exhibition. It became a community, and many of those people became friends and collaborators.

 

After opening at Divisible Projects, “Fiction (With Only Daylight Between Us)” traveled to 18 galleries, art spaces, and universities across the United States and internationally. Over the following year, the project was presented in Australia, England, Germany, California, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee, creating new points of connection each time it was installed. What began as a collection of individual images became a traveling, evolving community of artists, one that continued to take on new meaning as it moved from place to place.

 

In 2027, we want to start again.

 

The premise is simple.

 

We are inviting artists from anywhere in the world to submit one single black-and-white JPG image, formatted VERTICALLY at 11 x 8.5 inches.

 

That’s it.

 

The image can be something you make specifically for the project, something you have already made, a photograph of something you encounter, a drawing, a painting, a collage, an image found or transformed, or something difficult to categorize. There is no theme and no expectation of what the image should be.

 

AI-generated imagery is strictly prohibited. Any work found to have been created, in whole or in part, using AI-generated imagery will be removed from the exhibition without notice.

 

The images will be collected, printed, and installed together, one image per sheet of paper, pinned directly to the wall. There will be no frames, pedestals, screens, or elaborate installation. Just black and white laser printed images, push-pinned to the wall.

 

The point is not to make a major new work. The point is to participate.

 

In 2016, the world seemed, in many ways, closer. Since then, a great deal has changed. A pandemic physically separated us. Politics have become increasingly divisive. Social media has simultaneously connected and isolated us. Distance seems to have become a defining condition of contemporary life.

 

And yet, artists continue to make things and share them with strangers.

 

“Fiction (We Used to Be Closer Than This)” attempts something very simple: to bring us together again.

 

The 2027 exhibition will first be presented in January at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, and then in February at Divisible Projects, Dayton, Ohio, with the hope that, like the original 2016 project, it will continue beyond its first exhibition and travel to new places, bringing this temporary community of artists with it.

 

If you are interested in hosting the project in your area, it can be traditional, experimental, one-night-only, printed and pinned to the wall, left in a single stack, projected on the side of a building, turned into a performance, etc. All we ask is that you provide documentation. If you can facilitate the exhibition traveling, you will be considered the co-curator of your adaptation.

 

Because of the anticipated volume of participants, we won’t be able to send individual emails or updates to everyone. The best way to follow “Fiction (We Used to Be Closer Than This)” is through Jeffrey’s personal Instagram ( @jeffreycortlandjones ), where he will periodically share participating artists, installation photographs, project updates, and information about if and where the exhibition travels next.

 

 

 

DETAILS

 

 

Deadline: December 1, 2026 (we cannot accept late work)

 

Send your image to: jjones1@udayton.edu, with the subject line “FICTION”

 

What to send: One VERTICAL black-and-white JPG, 11 x 8.5 inches (approximately 2550 × 3300 pixels at 300 dpi)

 

The file name should be labeled as: FirstName_LastName_FICTION_YourLocationCountry.jpg

(example: Jeffrey_Jones_FICTION_DaytonOhioUSA.jpg)

In the body of the email, please include your name, location, and if you are interested in working with us to travel/host the project in your area (see above).

 

 

To keep communication consistent, all correspondence will be handled directly by Jeffrey.

 

 

 

 

 

2027 participating venues

 

Divisible Projects . Dayton, Ohio

Middle Tennessee State University . Murfreesboro, Tennessee

University of North Dakota . Grand Forks, North Dakota

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on Fri, September 4th, 2026
Expires on Tue, December 1st, 2026

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