In The Event That...

You're Into the Dark Arts

by Holly Otterbein

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Published: Sep 30, 2008

Open the Gates | Opening reception Fri., Oct. 3, 5-9 p.m., exhibit runs through Nov. 23, Germ Books, 2005 Frankford Ave., 215-423-5002, germbooks.com

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If Anton Szandor LaVey (1930-1997) hadn't gone to church on Sundays, he may have never founded Satanism. As a young adult, LaVey banged out hymns on an organ at both Christian churches and burlesque shows — and noticed something. The same people who ate the flesh of Christ during the day were also the ones who ogled naked ladies at night.

"This made him more cynical, and eventually gave him an affinity for the darker side of life," says David Williams, owner of Germ Books.

On Friday, Germ will honor LaVey's fall into evil by hosting "Open the Gates," an exhibition of works by seven members of the Church of Satan. And it's not all skulls and upside-down crosses. Priestess Stephanie Crabe examines the darker side of real estate in her photographs, which portray seedy motels and the sexual deviants who inhabit them. In the Rev. Jack Malebranche's painting of an open-mouthed gorilla, titled The Beast of Man, he conveys the Satanist tenet that all humans are vicious animals.

The exhibit also features the works of traditional, pentagram-wearing Satanists, such as curator Jason Leach. His sculptures of horned creatures and skeletons reflect upon his debauched youth. "I was a heavy metal kid who loved the skull," he says.

Maybe Black Sabbath really is to blame.

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