In the 1943 book by Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology, the existentialist deals with topics such as consciousness, perception, social philosophy, self-deception, the existence of "nothingness", psychoanalysis, and the question of free will. In Sartre's assessment, “man is a creature haunted by a vision of "completion" (what Sartre calls the ens causa sui, meaning literally "a being that causes itself"), which many religions and philosophers identify as God. Born into the material reality of one's body, in a material universe, one finds oneself inserted into being.” Band of Vices’ latest exhibition, GAZE, further explores the notion of merely existing, but with a more intentional focus, predominantly Black youth. In both Monica Ikegwu and Tommy Mitchell’s subjects, there lies a quiet, defiant state of being. Notwithstanding that they are both Baltimoreans, Ms. Ikegwu and Mr. Mitchell explore the very existence of their subjects’ right to basic humanity, while unapologetically exerting their Blackness. Both artists are showing us that these youth have powerfully claimed that they too are young gods.