The 40 artists whose work will be presented in the 2008 Carnegie International were announced today by Douglas Fogle, curator of contemporary art at Carnegie Museum of Art and curator of the exhibition. They're a mix of familiar names, some of whom have participated in past Internationals, and newcomers, unified under the theme "Life on Mars."

The 55th installment of the globally prestigious exhibition, instituted by Pittsburgh industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1896, opens May 3 and will be a highlight of the city's 250th anniversary celebration.

Carnegie initiated the large contemporary survey show, which remains the only one of its kind in North America, a year after he founded Carnegie Institute. His inspiration was the Venice Biennale, held for the first time in 1895.

The exhibition of late has been presented triennially. This edition is the first to open in the spring and will continue for a longer time than its predecessors, ending Jan. 11, 2009. The museum hopes to attract visitors from the summer travel, traditional fall arts and holiday seasons.

Also new this year is the Fine Prize, part of a $5 million endowment for the Carnegie International given by the Fine Foundation in September, which will go to an emerging artist. It will complement the $10,000 Carnegie Prize, which is traditionally awarded to an artist in recognition of outstanding lifetime achievement.

While artists from 17 countries are included in Fogle's selection, the majority are native to and/or work in the United States (10) and Europe (23). Two are deceased: Paul Thek and Mario Merz. There will be about the same number of artists as were exhibited in the most recent Internationals of 1999-2000 and 2004-05.

This is the first time a title other than "Carnegie International" has identified the exhibition.

Fogle says "Life on Mars' is "very much a poetic gesture in terms of thinking about our place in the universe as humans. Are we alone in the universe? Do aliens exist? Or are we, ourselves, the strangers in our own worlds? To me contemporary art is as much about coming to terms with our own world as it is about creating a set of worlds parallel to those that we walk in everyday.

"The thematic premise behind the show has to do with the idea of the intimate moments in our daily life that we miss by walking through our worlds and not seeing what is right in front of us. It also has to do with the more infinite sense of being part of the larger universe and finding ourselves on the inside and looking out.

"All of the artists participating in the 2008 Carnegie International have been chosen because their work conveys this sensibility," Fogle says.

The projected 200 artworks will embrace a range of media, including painting, sculpture, drawing, animation, film and installation.

Five of the 2008 artists have exhibited in past Internationals. They are Thek (CI 1967), Mike Kelley (CI 1991-92), Rosemarie Trockel and the collaborative team Peter Fischli and David Weiss (all CI 1988-89).

Visitors who've frequented the Carnegie's Forum Gallery will recognize Phil Collins and Rivane Neuenschwander, both of whom showed video works there recently.

One of the exhibition's senior artists is Austrian Maria Lassnig, who was born in 1919. The youngest, Cao Fei, was born in 1978 and is Chinese.

Carnegie Museum of Art board chairman William E. Hunt says the International is "a tremendous asset that reflects the spirit of our past, present and future."

Andrew Carnegie's intent was to bring the best current art to Pittsburgh as well as to attract the broader art world to the city.

He also quickly recognized that by exhibiting the "Old Masters of tomorrow," his institution would have the opportunity to build its collection by purchasing work from the show.

While not all artist's reputations stand the test of time, there have been notables among those whose works were acquired for the Carnegie collection through the Internationals, including Louise Bourgeois, Mary Cassatt, Willem de Kooning, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Ellsworth Kelley, Anselm Kiefer, Sol LeWitt, Camille Pissarro, John Singer Sargent, Richard Serra, Andy Warhol and James A. McNeill Whistler.