OXFORD, Miss. – After University of Mississippi art student
Christopher Brady stretched his woodblock print thesis
project “Type A” outdoors March 29, 2007, and measured it,
he discovered that he had broken the world record for
longest woodblock print; however, a sudden gust of wind
came and ripped the print apart.
Not to be discouraged, after Brady landed his spot in the
2008 Guinness Book of World Records, he decided to further
divide the 282-foot-long artwork and offer it for sale as
pieces of history.
“I had my thesis show in April and since it got torn during
the measuring, I just went ahead and sold off the sections.
Now it is all over the Southeast, hanging in different
people’s living rooms,” Brady said. “It is a neat way for
people to have a piece of the longest woodblock print in
the world and have a piece of history.”
Brady completed his MFA degree at Ole Miss last year and is
on the faculty at Hinds Community College in Jackson.
Explaining how he got the idea to shoot for breaking the
world record, Brady said, “It was no elementary school
dream or anything. But as I started making the print and
got curious, I looked up the record and when I saw it, I
wanted to beat it.”
“Anytime artwork gets recognition, it is positive,” said
Sheri Rieth, UM associate professor of art who oversaw
Brady’s thesis. “His thesis was a great success and I am so
proud of him because of his success with his work, ideas,
teaching and skills.”
Applying to the Guinness Book of World Records was not an
easy or quick process, Brady said. After getting all his
papers and applications together by mid-July to send to the
Guinness Book, he did not receive confirmation until Jan. 9
that he had officially replaced the old record.
“There was a ‘fast track method’ to get your applications
approved in days and it was $500 extra, so I didn’t do it,”
Brady said. “But after having to wait so long, I just
should have.”
Brady was invited to display his work at the Mississippi
Library Commission building in Jackson. The exhibit
“Fluidity and Form” includes local scenes of Jackson made
with watercolor monotype, a process that involves painting
on Plexiglas.
“I let it dry completely and then I soak a piece of paper
in water and place it on top of the image,” Brady said. “I
run it through a press, and the pressure squeezes out the
excess water and rehydrates the watercolor. I pull the
paper off and presto, there’s an image.”
Rieth recently selected Brady as a panelist for the
international College Art Association Conference in Dallas,
which had about 4,000 attendees. About 200 people attended
the “Immense Prints” session, where Brady was one of five
artists making presentations.
Brady intends to reprint his project within the next two
years so he can have his own copy – after all, he kept all
the woodblocks. Brady’s only regret is that his thesis
almost became more of a spectacle because of the Guinness
Book record, which was not his intention.
“It represented a great chapter of my life, but I’m ready
to move on,” Brady said. “I mean it isn’t in an art history
book or anything, but I’m fine with that status.”
Brady’s “Fluidity and Form” is on display through the end
of April at the Mississippi Library Commission, 3881
Eastwood Drive in Jackson.
For more information about Brady and his work, contact him
at christopherbrady@bellsouth.net. For more information on
the UM Department of Art, go to