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To say that art dealer Steve Mendelson is enamored of all things French is an understatement. He has lived in Paris more than once, had a gallery there for a spell, and brought back hundreds of treasures found there over the years, much to the delight of many Pittsburghers. And every year on July 14 or thereabouts, he throws a raucous gathering at his Shadyside gallery for rowdy folk willing and able to align with his enthusiasm for the anniversary of Bastille Day.

So it is that the latest exhibition at Mendelson Gallery -- "Salon des Refusees" -- is in keeping with all things French.

For the uninitiated in art history, "Salon des Refusees" refers to a momentous event in 1863. That was the year French Emperor Napoleon III commanded that all of the rejected artists from the annual Paris Salon -- a juried state exhibition, organized through the Ecole des Beaux-Arts -- be included in an exhibition of their own. Among them, artists such as Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Pierre-Auguste Renoir -- all considered art world pioneers today -- turned heads and broke new ground for what would become known as impressionism.

The Paris Salon was arguably the pre-eminent art show of the 19th century. The Associated Artists of Pittsburgh's annual exhibition, now in its 98th year, arguably can be considered Pittsburgh's most pre-eminent annual art exhibition.

Hence, Mendelson says of his "Salon ses Refusees": "Politics, personalities and current trends aside, everyone -- including artists -- deserves another chance."

For the show, he picked 20 pieces by as many artists, from more than 400 pieces of art rejected by this year's Associated Artists of Pittsburgh's exhibit. But, as with the original "Salon des Refusees" -- in which more than 2,000 artists were invited to participate and less than 500 were accepted -- only 16 of those invited to exhibit in this show brought their work the week before the opening.

Nevertheless, this tidy exhibit is a worthy alternative to the much larger Associated Artists' annual display at the Warhol. The Associated Artists' exhibit contains more than 70 pieces selected by this year's juror, John Carson, head of the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University.

Here, one will encounter a few works by artists included in the main exhibition -- for example, a large painting of birch trees titled "Collectivus" by Charles Pitcher and a faux Victorian advertising banner by gallery favorite Ben Matthews that has the undeniably tongue-in-cheek slogan "Smilt's cure for violent behavior-pickled extraterrestrial livers." And a variety of works ranging from photography to painting, collage to assemblage, even fiber art, that are easily of the same quality as those in the Associated Artists' show.

For example, Hope Gelfand Alcorn's felted wool throw "Lilies," hanging in the gallery window, is sure to grab the attention of passersby thanks to its exuberant color and organically inspired design.

Venture into the gallery, and you will surely be equally stunned by Robert Villamagna's ode to Abraham Lincoln hanging opposite the front door. An amalgam of collaged tin cans and painted tin advertisements from yesteryear, it is a delightful piece of rearranged Americana.

On the opposite side of the gallery, several photo collages take center stage. Among them, Laura Marin's "House of the Rising Sun" offers the most socio-politically charged comment, based on the ubiquitous "glass ceiling" for most women in the workplace. Mark Panza also uses photo collage to make a statement. His "Inner City Organic" features a delightful interplay of urban and rural settings that bring to the fore man's ever-encroaching footprint on nature. And speaking of nature, Jim Cook makes the most of a series of digital photographs he took of driftwood, collaging the imagery into a remarkably dynamic set of geometrically inspired gestalts.

There are a variety of paintings on display. They range from the semi-abstract, such as Scott Turri's pastel-colored "Cocoons and Mobile Homes," to Kurt Kornacki's comically illustrative "Thanksgiving," which gives snide commentary on the plight of the American Indian.

There's a little bit of sculpture, too, with David Edwards' "Social Climber" being a real standout. Also semi-abstract and gestural in nature, it features a hand-sculpted wooden figure atop a ladder the artist crafted from walnut.

The remaining works are just as good as the ones mentioned here, as well as those in the larger annual exhibition. Thus, at the very least, this exhibit offers a truncated version of what to expect of the much larger Associated Artists show. And, being of equal quality, it's enough to whet the appetite before visiting that exhibition, which is on display until Sept. 14 at The Warhol.

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