THE ART OF
C U R AT I O N
with Circuit 12 Contemporary
Circuit 12 Contemporary was started by Dustin and Gina Orlando.
26
PHOTOGRAPHER NATASHA BRITO, AUSTERE
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN DALLAS AND NAME THE GALLERY?
selves are drawn to and think are relevant, and providing that in a setting that might not
DUSTIN: So when we moved to Dallas we went around to a lot of different galleries. And
be as accessible as it should be here in Dallas. So it’s really also about public awareness
there was good work, but there wasn’t a lot of energy going on. It seemed a little stagnant.
and allowing the community to interact with artwork in a nice setting that’s taken se-
So when we talked about opening the space, we talked about bringing some kind of ener-
riously. It’s not just a pop up this or that or whatever, and it’s actually really creating a
gy into the art scene. So, Circuit is like a continuous flow of energy and the 2012 is when
network of contemporary art that is both relevant and very much needed here in Dallas
Luca was born, and that was the first year the gallery was open. So Circuit 12. Gina more
where a lot of people think they need to go other places to see this stuff. In our experience
or less came up with the name, it made sense like that.
too, we’ve lived all over the place. We’ve worked in a lot of different art markets. We were
WHAT ARE THE STEPS YOU TAKE FOR CURATING?
in Miami for years, I was on the East Coast for years, and between Austin and New York.
GINA: That’s more of my place. I am a crazy, maniacal researcher to the point of insanity.
We’ve taken a lot of that experience and the people we’ve met, and markets, and sort of
To me, it’s just an extension of my own natural curiosity. I basically utilize the Internet
used all of that as a point of departure to start what we're doing here and also a point of,
and other tools that weren’t more readily available to us say back twenty years ago.
I mean it’s not a complete point of departure to where we’re not working with that any-
D: A lot of the artists we work with are friends with other artists. Then we have a retention
more, we are still expanding upon those ideas and revisioning how we can work with
of artists that are in the roster for shows that we are our booking a year out.
those artists we may already know...
G: I would say more importantly our curatorial vision kind of extends into what we our-
D: Also, curating a program. When we go into doing a schedule for example, we buy