Double Vision.

Will the hubbub, hoopla, and popping of corks accompanying the May 12 opening of Tate Modern (nee Bank-side) drown out the news that London is acquiring not just one, but two major new--or at least renewed--showcases for contemporary art? Let's hope not, because from March 24 on, an expanded Millbank (the Tate's original home, newly dubbed Tate Britain) will be serving up a daring cocktail of the old and the new. Tate Modern will take international contemporary and modern art as its basic ingredients, while Tate Britain serves up generous helpings of British art both ancient and modern. Also in the mix: canny director Stephen Deuchar (poached by the Tate from the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, in 1997); head of exhibitions Sheena Wagstaff (back in her London home after work in the US); a $50 million-plus extension and refurbishment program; and some radical exhibition plans promising to combine vintage character (the best of Constable, Turner, and Wright of Derby) with more than a dash of contemporary s pice. Permanent displays grouped under such headings as "Family and Society," "Literature and Fantasy," and "Artists and Models" will place historic figures including Rossetti, Hogarth, and William Frith side by side with the likes of Francis Bacon, Gillian Wearing, and Gilbert and George. So, seekers of contemporary art shouldn't just settle for a visit to Bankside (oops, Tate Modern), but hop aboard the Tate's boat service and chug upstream for the full monty. From March 24 to May 28, Millbanks "New Acquisitions in British Art 1990-2000" will foreground much recent work (among acquisitions from the seventeenth century on); July 6 to September 24 sees the inauguration of "New British Art 2000," a triennial event promising to be the Tate's largest-ever show of contemporary work; and from March 24 to July 3, the august Duveen Galleries will host a show of new work by Mona Hatoum. Come fall 2000: Jollification time once again. Four UK stars will hang their stockings a little early at Tate Britain, hoping Santa will arrive in the form of a Turner Prize check.