Christie Brinkley (Feb. 2, 1954) Billy Joel‘s Uptown Girl was the reigning supermodel of the early 80s thanks to her three consecutive Sports Illustrated covers (1979-1981). After signing a record 20-year contract with Cover Girl, Brinkley came to embody the perpetually perky All-American girl of the decade. Recently, though, she went through a very public and very messy divorce and proved in a 2006 editorial in W magazine there was some grit beneath all that goddamn cheer.

Photo: John G. Zimmerman/ Sports Illustrated

Linda Evangelista (May 10, 1965) If you watch Isaac Mizrahi’s seminal fashion documentary Unzipped (1995), you won’t be able to help but think Linda Evangelista is a whiny bitch. She complains about everything the entire movie. You wonder why Mizrahi and everyone else puts up with it. Then, moments before she goes on the runway for his Fall 1994 collection, she stares directly into the camera, seduces you in a second then turns it out all the way down the catwalk. The super among supers who once notoriously purred, ”We don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day,” was worth every penny. She’s fashion’s reigning chameleon, able to go from high fashion to commercial with the raise of an eyebrow.

Photo: The Fashion Spot

Cindy Crawford (Feb. 20, 1966) The mole that launched a thousand magazine covers, Cindy Crawford was perhaps the most iconic of the supemodels to emerge in the 1980s. She was the approachable bombshell, the girl next door who just happened to be walking a Chanel runway in Paris. Cindy is rarely seen on a runway or in an editorial these days, but whenever she crops up it’s a pretty big deal, like mama bird coming home to the roost.

Christy Turlington (Jan. 2, 1969) Quietly stunning, Christy Turlington can nonetheless pose anyone off the page. Perhaps it’s all those years of yoga, but her inner serenity and ferocity when it comes to her body language go hand in hand. She can be dynamic, she can be avant garde, she can be powerful, but she’s always amazing.

Naomi Campbell (May 22, 1970) What can be said about Naomi Campbell that hasn’t already been said that won’t land me in jail? The preeminent black supermodel of the past 50 years, Naomi recently celebrated her 25th year in the modeling industry, though her personal life remains front page material. Famous for her temper, the super has managed to stay in the spotlight because she’s got more to offer than just a cell phone to the head. A versatile editorial model, she also possesses the best walk ever seen on a runway.

Photo: Olsen Twins News

Conceived by the Chairman of the Institute’s Board of Directors, Oscar de la Renta and curated by Vogue‘s own Hamish Bowles, Balenciaga: Spanish Master is the the first collection “to consider the impact of Spain’s culture, history and art” on the career and artistry of Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972).

Portrait of the artist as a young fox

Balenciaga forever changed the way women dressed and introduced dramatically different silhouettes into a woman’s sartorial lexicon. Spanish Master showcases some of the designer’s brilliant, beautiful and very often groundbreaking work in millinery, evening gowns, cocktail dresses and daywear, particularly highlighting his expert construction and tailoring.

Photo: GDK is the new black.

Featuring over 70 pieces from the Balenciaga archives, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, The Hispanic Society of America, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Texas Fashion Collection, the collection also benefited from loans from the private collections of Sandy Schreier and Bowles himself.

Photo: Sandi in the City

The exhibit also ”considers the influences on [Balenciaga's] designs of the country’s great artists, from Zurbarán and Goya to Picasso, Sorolla and Miró, and of Spain’s religious dress and ceremony, its royal history, its rich regional costume, its dance traditions, and the power and splendor of the bullfight. “

Photo: GDK is the new black.

I was in raptures pouring over Spanish Master‘s two floors and was especially surprised by Balenciaga’s continued experimentation and ingenuity well into old age and until his retirement in 1968. One could easily see the rich history from which Nicolas Ghesquière regularly culls and reinterprets through the house’s current collections.

Photos: Blend/Koko Royale

Balenciaga: Spanish Master is an experience that any lover of fashion or art or Spanish history should not miss. The exhibition will be on display at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute through February 19th and is $15 for adults and $10 for students, seniors, and Institute members.

Queen Sofía Spanish Institute  - 684 Park Ave

Like Cristobal Balenciaga, artist Francesco Vezzoli was inspired by religion for his latest exhibition Sacrilegio. He has reimagined 15th- and 16th-century Madonna and Child paintings by Giovanni Bellini, Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli utilizing 80s/90s supermodels including Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christie Brinkley, Tatjana Patitz, Claudia Schiffer, Stephanie Seymour and Kim Alexis.

Kim Alexis

The exhibit purports to examine “the societal worship of figures from the fashion and celebrity industries” by combining supermodels with historical religious icons.

Cindy Crawford

Vezzoli adorned each painting with “makeup, tattoos and large oblong tears rendered in needlepoint” and the gallery itself has been transformed into a Renaissance chapel. Some of the works also feature an FV with “a needle and thread forming part of the initials.”

Christie Brinkley

The exhibit was interesting and wholly entertaining — I mean, Christie Brinkley crying a giant needlepoint Liza Minnelli tear! I’m surprised I didn’t collapse from the amount of awesome being thrown my way.

Whether you subscribe to the artist’s idea of using these supers to “reflect a reality that has a huge power over our lives” or are just tickled by Naomi Campbell as a holy figure, Sacrilegio is definitely worth seeing. Sacrilegio will be on display at the Gagosian through March 12.

Gagosian Gallery - 522 W 21st St

Fashionation has a list of six super-human women who are aging quite gracefully. We’ve added four more to complete the list.

1. Cindy Crawford

2. Christie  Brinkley

3. Paulina Porizkova

4. Elle Macpherson

LINK LOVE: Popgloss via Fashionation