‘Negatory No. 4’ Activates Old North Knox Church With Experiential Art & Sound

This Friday, Feb. 6, Negatory returns to Fourth United Presbyterian Church in Old North Knoxville with a multi-floor pop-up exhibition that blends visual art, live music and an atmosphere that feels closer to entering a temporary world than attending a traditional gallery show. 

The event runs from 5–10 p.m. with music beginning between 6 and 7. It is Negatory’s fourth installment, this time landing squarely on First Friday.

If the setting sounds familiar, that’s because just over a year ago, Negatory transformed the church into one of the most talked-about art events in the city. The sanctuary hosted live music, while the upper floors became intimate, room-by-room installations. Our friends at Hellmouth magazine documented it here.

Negatory No. 4 intends to build on that otherworldly energy. It expands both the roster (25+ artists) and the scale of the experience while maintaining the DIY, community-driven approach that has defined the unconventional gallery from the beginning.

Negatory was started by artists Andrea Markel and Adam Deal, who describe themselves, only half-jokingly, as “co-founders, twin dreamers and weirdo rapscallions.”

The name comes from a set of vintage trucker bumper stickers, which simply read “Negatory,” that Andrea and Adam picked up from Retrospect Vintage owner B.J. Alumbaugh. When it came time to name their first pop-up, Andrea recalled, “We already had these mysterious stickers on our cars. It just made sense.” B.J. gave his blessing, helped with early graphics and remains part of the extended Negatory orbit.

Adam’s primary medium is ink and watercolor, and his densely detailed, illustrative work extends into comics, plaster sculpture and custom-painted garments. Andrea, who holds a BFA from the University of Tennessee and an MFA from SUNY Purchase, has worked in galleries and studios in New York.

She said the idea for Negatory grew out of a shared frustration with the lack of independently run gallery spaces in Knoxville. “We wanted something more grassroots,” she said. “A straight line from conception to dissemination, sans bureaucracy and gatekeeping.”

Negatory is not an open call. Instead, artists are invited and curated through personal connections and community referrals, at times highlighting people who haven’t shown work publicly before.

“Some of my favorite people and very talented people aren’t very ego-driven,” Andrea said. “The fear of rejection keeps a lot of artists from ever showing their work.”

From the beginning, Negatory has treated physical space as a collaborator rather than a backdrop. Past shows have taken place at Sassy Ann’s and The Wild Side, spaces not designed to be galleries but rich with character and constraint.

At Fourth United Presbyterian, those constraints are literal. No holes in the walls. For last year’s show, that meant drilling into freestanding beams, along with other improvisational installation methods that became part of the aesthetic. “Having to get creative kind of made things look even cooler,” Andrea said.

The result feels both reverent and unruly. It is cozy, strange and intentionally experiential — a space where art, music and architecture are inseparable.

Fourth United Presbyterian was built in 1914 and designed by Charles and David West Barber, renowned Knoxville architects and members of the church. It is admired for its original Kilgen pipe organ and vivid stained-glass windows, created in 1912 by the Louisville Art Glass Company, that cast the sanctuary in a rich, serene glow. 

The church sanctuary will once again serve as a central gathering point for sound. The lineup includes Jason Boardman’s Palatheda opening the night, followed by performances from Dakota Smith’s A Certain Zone, Maspeth, @tticus, J. Bu$h and UaD5. Local musician and audio engineer Seth Hopper has volunteered to run sound for the event. 

Rather than a single focal point, the exhibition is designed to be explored. Artwork is experienced collectively rather than in isolation. Each floor offers its own tone, textures and moments of discovery. 

A front room of the exhibition will feature selected works from the personal art collection of Mike Adams, a deeply respected and beloved supporter of Knoxville’s art and music community who passed away last year. It isn’t intended as a memorial in the traditional sense but as a reflection of Mike’s role as a patron, advocate and connector of local artists. The works represent decades of encouragement and enthusiasm that helped shape countless creative paths in the city.

“We would definitely not have Negatory, or I probably would not even have my own art practice, without Mike’s decades of encouragement and support,” Andrea said.

For the first time, Negatory will charge a $5 cover to help cover production costs, which Adam and Andrea have largely covered out of pocket in the past. Donation jars and QR codes will be available, but organizers emphasize there is no pressure to contribute beyond the cover. “We’re just trying to not go into the hole with this one,” Andrea said.

Long-term, Andrea and Adam hope to find a small, permanent gallery space, ideally by partnering with an existing business that has underutilized space. For now, the pop-up model remains central to the project.

“We really love highlighting local spaces,” Andrea said. “It’s just as much a collaboration with the space as it is with the artists and the community.”

Each iteration sharpens the experience while keeping its edge, its openness and its sense of discovery intact. Adam said he hopes people leave talking less about what they saw and more about how it felt to be there.

For First Friday regulars looking to step outside the usual gallery crawl, or for anyone curious about where Knoxville’s experimental art and music scenes overlap, Negatory offers an experience that rewards wandering and a desire to enter the unexpected.

Event Details: Negatory No. 4 | Friday, Feb. 6 | 5–10 p.m. with music starting at 6/7 p.m.| Fourth United Presbyterian Church, 1323 N. Broadway, Old North Knoxville | $5 cover | All Ages | Please use the rear entrance | Additional parking available across the street at Rose Mortuary | ADA-accessible

Instagram/Website Links: @negatory_gallery | @andrea.markel.arrrt | @adampernelldeal | adampernelldeal.com