A couple of months ago, after a conversation spurred by what one could only refer to as a ‘lethal boozer’, trio Joe Goicoechea, Charlie Warcup and Sam Hamer threw together a couple of notions that would eventually lead to the London based art collective now known as Loose.

Putting on their first ever exhibition at DOOMED Gallery in Dalston, this DIY art collective is more concerned with having a good time than showcasing pretentious art works; and they’re hoping we’ll join their mindset. That’s not to say they don’t have an extremely solid line up of painters, illustrators and photographers partaking; seasoned names such as Ed Templeton and up and coming talents like Hetty Douglas, a young painter known for her brightly coloured and spray painted works, and Michael Dicken.

Unbound to common conventions of what art should be or how many Instagram followers make you an artist, Loose tell us they couldn’t care less who you are. As long as your art is sick, they’ll stick it on the wall.

Zoe Springer: Can you tell us a little about what you do?
Loose: The three of us work in an advertising agency in Shoreditch, with two of us (Joe Goicoechea and Charlie Warcup) being a creative team and Sam Hamer being a designer. Beyond our 9–5’s, we all have a shared interest in art and all practice it in some way or another. We like taking photos, drawing, illustrating and making zines. 

ZS: How did you guys meet and what triggered you to create Loose?
Loose: It all started in our home away from home maybe about five or six months ago at the Old Kings Head on Holywell Row (lethal boozer) after having many a conversation about wanting an escape from our everyday. We wanted to take on a project that we could have full control over and give us the creative freedom to do exactly the stuff that we want to do. So within maybe half an hour we came up with the name Loose. It just felt right, it didn’t pin us down to one thing or another because to be quite honest we had no idea what it was going to be.
 The next day, we whacked together a logo super quick and set up a Facebook page. It all fell from there and before we knew it we were checking out gallery spaces, artists we like and putting our first exhibition into motion.

ZS: Can you describe the initial motivations behind putting on this show?
Loose: To be perfectly honest with you it felt like the first thing we should do straight away. We didn’t really question it, we just went with it. We wanted to stick on an exhibition with some sick work and have a piss up. We weren’t thinking about what would be good idea for Loose as a ‘brand’, we were just quite selfishly creating a night that we would want to go to. And then hoping everyone else would get on board with that.

 There was literally no plan. We’re just letting the ball roll. Keeping things loose baby.

ZS: What specifically drew you to selecting the artists taking part in this exhibition?
Loose: We kept the criteria as broad as we could. We didn’t pick people on experience or age or sex or any of that stuff. We emailed and Instagrammed people we wanted to see in a show and hoped they’d get back to us. The beauty of this approach is that we now have young graduates exhibiting like Michael Dicken in the same show as a legend like Ed Templeton. To be honest, the simple answer is that we picked a whole bunch of sick artists that we love regardless of who the fuck they are.

ZS: There seems to be a correlation in the themes that these young artists explore, yet the execution of their craft is very different. What are your thoughts on this?
Loose: The three of us all obviously share a similar taste in aesthetic so i guess you could say, we’re all drawn to the same artists and same tastes. We love independent publishing, zines, old skate art, b&w photography and a DIY approach so I suppose there’s some of that coming through there in different ways but we weren’t being too tight on our criteria.

“To be honest, we picked a whole bunch of sick artists that we love regardless of who the fuck they are.”

ZS: What are you hoping to say with this particular exhibition?
Loose: We’re sick of going to these wanky art shows that are trying to be far too intelligent with some ridiculous concept and then when you get there it’s all absolutely shite. We think art exhibitions should just be sound places to go and hang out, have a drink and look at some nice art on the walls. 

What are we trying to say? Stay loose and have a banger.

ZS:What are your thoughts on London’s young art landscape?
Loose: Yeah we think London is good, there’s plenty good shit kicking about. We’ve all moved here because of the reputation and scene that London has. But our artists don’t necessarily reflect that, we’ve got people from all over the world. There’s loads of great artists in London that we’d love to collaborate with in the future but you know, what about what’s going on in Grimsby or Hartlepool or going abroad?

ZS: What are your future plans for Loose?
Loose: We haven’t got a fucking clue. We’re gonna stick on some shows and continue to promote great work. We’ll keep winging it ’til somebody susses us out.

Loose opens 8th November at Doomed Gallery, 65 Ridley Rd, London E8 2NP. More info here.