Peter Williams is globally renowned for the photographic iconic images he produced for the late lamented Straight No Chaser magazine alongside Far Out Records and B&W Music. 

Back in 1988, after studying photography at the Royal College of Art, Williams met up with the Chaser crew. They had just launched a designer fanzine dedicated to what they called the Freedom Principle. A long-standing working relationship developed between the photographer and Paul Bradshaw, Straight No Chasers driving force and editor.

The result of that relationship is Headz! – a powerful exhibition of portraiture that features nu-generation playas like DJ Shadow, Reprazent, Sizzla, Soweto Kinch, Courtney Pine and Cassandra Wilson alongside legends like Don Cherry, McCoy Tyner, Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, Randy Weston, Steve Reid, Nina Simone and Miles Davis – horn at the ready, floating in the air like an eerie apparition.  

Following on from the hugely successful Swifty Pop Shop which opened at the Sauce gallery at the end of 2009,  have invited Swifty to contribute to Headz!  As the former creative director of Straight No Chaser, Swifty has long worked with Peter Williams imagery.

Scan through the back issues of the magazine and youll be blown away by the radical combinations of typografix and photography. Swifty has taken these classic spreads one step further and included in Headz are a selection of Peter Williams classics that have been specially remixed for the occasion.

Headz! is curated by The Sauce Gallery, Punch and former Straight No Chaser publisher Paul Bradshaw.

Coming to the Sauce Gallery, Gibb St, Custard Factory 10-6pm Mon-Sat from 16 July 2010. Call Punch on 0121 224 7444 for more information.

The exhibition is launching with a fantastic performance by Digby Fairweather, playing live over the Custard Factory Lake, from 1pm on Friday 16 July.

You can also follow Sauce Gallery on Twitter www.twitter.com/saucegallery

The exhibition has been extended until the end of February. The exhibition is open Monday – Saturday from 10am – 6pm at the Sauce Gallery on Gibb Street, Custard Factory.

For more information click here.

The Swifty Christmas Store is now open, selling a range of wicked prints including Swifty Jazz Festival pictures!

To check out the range of prints available click here.

Below are the photos of Swifty creating his innovative and unique artwork. For more information on the exhibition click here.

Punch in partnership with the Sauce Gallery, Custard Factory Birmingham present Swifty’s Pop Shop.

Pioneering typographer, sleeve designer and artist Swifty will be setting up shop at the Sauce Gallery in Birmingham’s Custard Factory from Saturday 12 December. Everything from originals and one off prints to T-shirts, skateboards and stickers will be for sale in The Swifty Pop Shop.

The Pop Shop,will feature Swifty’s Newsagents installation.This life size shop front was partly inspired by Peter Blake’s ‘Toy Shop’ and the artist’s fond memories of a local village newsagent in Lancashire .

The Shop will also be home to the A-Z of Swifty Show, including pieces based around everything from Action Man to Zebedee from the Magic Roundabout.

The Pop Shop will be open to the public at the Sauce Gallery, 5 The Custard Factory, Gibb Street, Digbeth and has been extended to run until the end of March 2010!

Listen to a great interview UK vibe did with Swifty and check out some more of his images by clicking here.

Check out photos from the fantastic launch night and the final preperations below:

Below are photographs of Swifty at work putting together the billboard for the exhibition.