San Francisco Regional Representative Sophia Kinell. Photography by John Dolan.
PHILLIPS: Tell us a little bit about your background and how you came to be a regional representative for San Francisco at Phillips.
SOPHIA KINELL: After nearly a decade at Sotheby’s in New York, I joined Phillips in 2017 with the mandate of building and running the proposals team for the Americas. This role soon expanded to encompass a global scope—I managed an international team of strategists and most, if not all, high-level competitive business touched our team.
My experience in proposals has afforded me the incredible opportunity of being on the front lines alongside our salesforce, strategizing with them and steering the company through an unprecedented era of growth. It is an incredibly powerful niche in the auction industry that forces you to think strategically and out of the box, and simultaneously maintain the most active pulse on the art market. Furthermore, it requires a deep sense of brand awareness and a nuanced understanding of Phillips' edge—one must be able to articulate this clearly. In a market where we are brand new, this is extremely important. It is my mission to let people here in San Francisco know what Phillips has to offer, to explain precisely how we are different and to inspire them to engage with us.
As our regional lead, my job is to support Phillips' business development efforts and cultivate our network of collectors, dealers, advisors and curators throughout Northern California. I am excited to be back home in the Bay Area and to bring the energy of Phillips to this vibrant community.
P: As a Bay Area native, how have you found the city's art scene has changed in recent years?
SK: The art scene here in the Bay Area has changed drastically, particularly in the last five to ten years. The re-opening of SFMOMA has certainly been a catalyst and point of inspiration for this—not only is it a tremendous anchor here in the community, but it is also truly a world-class institution that consistently mounts exceptional exhibitions, hosts engaging programs and draws an international audience. We are so lucky to have it here.
What is most exciting for me to see though are all of the young upstarts that are building here in the Bay Area, just like Phillips: Adrian Rosenfeld Gallery, Rebecca Camacho Presents and Friends Indeed Gallery, to name a few. We are sitting and operating in the nexus of innovation and entrepreneurship, and it is a very exciting time to be here.
To say the area has changed is an understatement—my hometown of Palo Alto in particular! I grew up in the era of Steve Jobs walking barefoot around town. Pace Gallery now occupies a space that once was a party and balloon store where I worked as a kid. That in itself illustrates the incredible evolution of this area.
P: You've put together a new series of ‘Art + Film’ screenings in San Francisco. What inspired you to create the series and what do you hope it achieves for the city?
SK: Our Art + Film series is a way to embrace and cultivate the Bay Area community at large, beyond the obvious art world openings and cocktail events. At its core, you are dealing with an incredibly smart and sophisticated collector base. Beyond that, I am seeing a curiosity and genuine interest to learn about and engage with art, now more than ever before.
We have a duty as industry leaders to provide more points of engagement, to extend our reach and to educate. We are an auction house, of course, but we are also an incredible resource for learning about and engaging with art.
Phillips is the only international auction house to focus exclusively on the art of our time. This film series is meant to shine a light on some of the greatest artists of the 20th and 21st centuries and surface their stories. And what better storytelling medium than film? Art is a universal language that unites us all, and film is a powerful mechanism in which to disperse the message.
P: Can you tell us about the screening on October 29th at the Vogue theater (one of the city's oldest operating theaters)? What can viewers expect from 'Kusama Infinity' if they haven't seen the documentary yet?
SK: We are thrilled to partner with The Vogue and bring Kusama Infinity to the big screen. As a female artist and Japanese immigrant, Yayoi Kusama's story is more relevant now than ever. The film tells an incredible story of triumph in the face of continued adversity.
This will be our second screening in the Art + Film series, after launching in September with Tamra Davis' documentary The Radiant Child about beloved art world renegade Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Stay tuned for the finale later this fall!
P: What else does Phillips have planned for the Bay Area heading into next year?
SK: Like many other businesses here in Silicon Valley, we are building. My mission is to position Phillips as the true trendsetting market leader that it is. We reflect contemporary culture in everything we do and have set ourselves apart as a vibrant force in the art market because of it. I hope to continue to bring this pioneering spirit to the Bay Area with fresh, smart programming and community engagement.