Fitzpatrick's 1998 suite of etchings with aquatint, the "Infinite Wager" series, represents the artist's attachment to the subject of chance. His fixation with dice, numbers, playing cards and such reveal a narrative flow through these small and involved prints. Their intricacy demands immediate inspection and ultimate satisfaction follows.

Stella, whose art titles have always been enigmatic, doesn't disappoint with these prints.

Inspired by a Yiddish song, "Had Gadya," which means, "one little kid goat," the artist's big, splashy abstracts were produced from 1982-84 by using linoleum block, silkscreen and rubber relief printing, with some collage and hand coloring. These are bold, confident prints that will mystify yet satisfy for no reason other than visual titillation.

Warhol's "Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century," produced in 1980, is the powerhouse of the exhibit. As in many of his paintings, the artist has appropriated images well known to the public and transformed them into a series of inventive, colorful and design-heavy masterpieces of Pop.

His portrait subjects include giants of law, literature, philosophy, medicine, science and popular figures from film and music. His print of the Marx Brothers is a particular treat.

For those familiar with Warhol's work, the tightness and precision of every line and overprint is impressive. This is due, according to Edwards, to the assistance of a master printmaker, to whom we should be eternally grateful.

• To witness "Ascension," a video installation by artist Bill Viola, you must first enter the darkened Projects Gallery. Before you is a wall-size projection of a serene underwater landscape, light cutting its way diagonally through the water; without warning, the scene suddenly explodes when a fully clothed man plunges into the water from above — all in very slow motion. Accompanied by the roar of the splash and the boiling bubbles rising to the water's surface, you are quick to think, "That's it?"

However, after several minutes, the sound and visual beauty of light moving through the sluggish bubbles and reflecting off the clothes of the languidly rising body, you begin to feel a sense of peace and wonderment.

Stay long enough and another body drops unexpectedly into the water, and the process begins again. Your patience will determine your enjoyment of Viola's work.

All three of these exhibits will enhance your understanding of modernism as well as allow you to see and experience artistic competence at its finest.

---

E-mail: gag@desnews.com