Here, Becky Suss depicts James Baldwin's only children's book, Little Man, Little Man: A Story of Childhood, written in 1976 about a four-year-old boy in Harlem learning about "the challenges and joys of black childhood." This painted open book looks like we could almost pick it up and read it aloud. It’s from a series, "Where They Are," that concentrates on children's literature, a topic in which the artist became interested after giving birth to her son, Sid. Becky wanted to find books to help Sid understand and empathize with subjects whose experiences were similar to and different from his own. Her arduous, detailed painting, argues for the importance and relevance of showing viewers care work, like reading to young children, that is usually hidden from view and unlikely to be valorized on canvas.

---