It wasn't until 2009 that Sotheby's London took notice of what was happening in the art world in Turkey and held its first auction of Turkish art. The sale produced 1.3 million dollars, a figure which was doubled in the following year. This article leads you to four galleries with an interesting selection of works made in Turkey.

We may not know where all this new technology is taking us in the field of art, but one innovative New York artist is using oil from human pores to create images on his iPhone. J. K. Keller says that grease from his face is smeared onto the surface of the iPhone to make a variety of patterns.

A new two-story Gallery has opened at the Louvre to display its collection of Islamic Art. The wavy glass roof, weighing 150 tons, has been installed as the first major addition to I. M. Pei's glass pyramid which opened in 1985.

A Melt-Down music Festival is planned to take place in London in early August. One of the events is a women-only lecture hosted by Marina Abramovic, known for her MoMA event "The Artist is Present". The only detail so far announced is the title of her lecture, "The Spirit in any Condition Does Not Burn".

Artist/Architect Michael Hansmeyer offers a TED talk called "Building unimaginable shapes". His wild-looking forms originate as folded cubes executed on the computer, reminiscent of many of the Blobs that I have been showing you for years. As Hansmeyer says, "There are unseen objects that await us if we as architects begin to think about designing not the object, but a process to generate objects." Those of you following our Sculpture page will be familiar with what he is describing.

Another artist, Seikou Yamaoka is using her fingers to create digital paintings on her iPhone. Seiku uses an app called Art Studio, costing $2.99.

The Getty Museum is showing "Messerschmidt and Modernity", a series of heads created in the late 18th century. Messerschmidt wanted to show the full range of human emotions, which he felt to equal 64. Carved in alabaster, they may also have been meant to protect him from evil spirits.