Best Group Art Exhibition

As a rule, group exhibitions are a mixed bag, as likely to include misses as hits. The Boca Raton Museum of Art's "Reality and Figuration" was one of the rare exceptions. The show featured works by ten living artists, all but two in their 40s, representing half a dozen Latin American countries: three each from Cuba and Argentina, one each from Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay. Other than their ethnic origins, however, these artists have little in common except the idea of exile -- most have studied and worked abroad, and most are now expatriates. But their work, executed in dramatically different styles, touches on a variety of themes, and most amazingly, almost every piece in the show clicks. Credit Executive Director George S. Bolge, formerly of Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Art, who has taken the Boca museum to new heights during his tenure. This exhibition was one of them.