Sacrilegious: Supermodels Get Turned Into The Virgin Mary

Remember that monster controversy when the Brooklyn Museum of Art wanted to show Chris Ofili's Holy Virgin Mary collage, which incorporated elephant feces? Well it looks like puritanicals will have more to crow about with Gagosian's latest exhibition, "Sacrilegio," which features artist Francesco Vezzoli's paintings of supermodels posing in various incarnations as The Holy Madonna and Child. Vezzoli has re-imagined the gallery as a Renaissance chapel, with enlarged portraits of fifteenth and sixteenth century Madonnas by artists like Botticelli and Andrea Mantegna. But instead of the Virgin Mary, look for models like Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell, covered in makeup, tattoos, and giant, needlepoint tears. For Vezzoli, supermodels are the new saints, and the artist, according to Gagosian "points to the societal worship of figures from the fashion and celebrity industries." And with Fashion Week starting Thursday, the timing is pretty perfect—though, sadly, no Abbey Lee Kershaw. (Bazaar)