The Associated Artists of Pittsburgh is back at Carnegie Museum of Art for its 96th Annual Exhibition with an overall strong showing that argues well for its continuing inclusion in the museum's schedule.

	Adam Welch's "Untitled (letter for today)" is among 88 works in the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh 96th Annual Exhibition. Click photo for larger image.

Until 2001, each Annual since 1911 had been held at the Carnegie. When the museum began renovations in 2002, the Annual moved to other venues, including The Andy Warhol Museum and university galleries.

This exhibition was jurored by Douglas Fogle, Carnegie curator of contemporary art and curator of the 2008 Carnegie International.

He chose 88 works by 74 artists from 740 works submitted by 293 artists. Ten of the selected artists were not AAP members (the competition is open to artists living within a 150-mile radius of Pittsburgh), and four of those were awarded prizes.

Several of the most accomplished works come from deep reflection upon the times in which we live, both the personal and the public spheres.

Adam Welch's sage and captivating "Untitled (letter for today)" is a small rock-like form made of marble wrapped in lead, the latter medium -- contemporary and used particularly for its alchemic associations -- shrouding the classical one. Stamped upon it in white-dusted letters are the words "yet to have reproduced/yet to have saved another/in some way I think this is helping."

In the thoughtful "Material Yield (before compaction)," Welch, one of the younger artists exhibiting, draws parallels between biological growth and social growth. Each may be easily charted early on, but at a point the interlocking components that shape body or mind become too complex to trace.

It takes a minute to comprehend Nancy Tirone's keen "Incitements to Reverie (Susan Sontag)," 13 old snapshots pinned to a background, but face down. Gradually the viewer pieces together the occasional deckle edge and the handwritten inscriptions on their backs, such as "Bruce ... and Bonnie. Bruce's car. Taken at Lookout Mountain, Colorado" or, simply, "Robin 4, Robert 2 1/2." Recognition is accompanied by a wash of nostalgia as one's mind wanders to albums and boxes tucked away in closets and is reminded of the passing of experiences, of life, and of a way one customarily recorded them.

The figure of Ray Forquer's penetrating "Transition" -- a seeker wandering in metaphysical fog, his fingers pressed against the translucent wall that separates him from the viewer -- is aptly a contemporary Everyman, in marked contrast to idealized allegorical figures of the past.

Ellen Chisdes Neuberg's minimal and clever "Not Enough Time" is plaintive and angry, a blend of philosophical thought and banal daily frustration. The words of the title -- casually printed across an upper corner of a blank white canvas, the "h" of "enough" split off for lack of room at picture edge -- hover between the intrinsic gravity of the human condition and the corner that modern Western man has painted himself into.

Some artists responded more specifically to the post-9/11 world.

A media image of a prisoner so seared Fabrizio Gerbino's consciousness that he had to exorcise it through paint, resulting in a pair of images burning with raw emotion. In one, the central figure writhes in existential isolation; in the other, he's surrounded by art historic references associated with Christ's crucifixion.

More contemplative are two handsome abstract works that stand well on their own but are given an overlay of meaning by their titles: Richard Stoner's photograph of an expanse of rippling water, "Confusion in Times of War, #1," and John Eastman's painting in variances of blue and flesh, "American Foreign Policy: Lost Our Way."

Joyce Werwie Perry's commendable "You Are Here" strikes home by altering the kind of shopping center floor plan that every school child is familiar with. "SEARS" becomes, for example, "FEARS," while a plane flies toward "Target." I wish that she had kept the piece generalized, rather than incorporating "Jew" -- and even, perhaps, "UN" -- because it would then have broader relevance and impact, better reflecting the nebulous 21st-century nightmare the world is dreaming.

These are high points, but many more artworks are noteworthy, including Karen Kaighin's contemporary still life with glasses "Half Full Reflection," a triumph of pinhole photography; Jane Ogren's fiberart "Spirits on Cloth," numbers 515 and 516, each underscored with the word "promises," one with a male image and the word "made," the other a female and the word "kept"; and Michael Tarbi's cerebral "Vessel," an intricately composed and disturbing drawing.

Also exhibited is one work by each of six AAP members who have died since the last Annual: Sally Anderson, John J. Humphrey, Emma Masley, Michael Stefanko, Anthony Vitale and Clyde E. Vogeley Jr.

Artists wondered aloud whether Fogle would have included more artists had the occupied adjacent galleries been available. He says he might have chosen a few more, but not double the number to reflect the increase in space. While he's pleased with the way the exhibition was hung, he says he would have probably spread the works out more were there extra room.

Any exhibition will have space limitations and will reflect its juror's particular point of view. Fogle's choices, he writes, "represent a wide cross-section of media and employ equally divergent methods of engaging the audience."

While a few works would benefit from more finesse of technique, the result is a show that both the AAP and the Carnegie can wear comfortably.

The Annual continues through Jan. 15. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $10, seniors $7, students/children $6. Information: 412-622-3131 or visit www.cmoa.org.