No Plan at All | New Book

We are happy to announce the release of the book No Plan at All: How the Danish Printshop of Niels Borch Jensen Redefined Artists’ Prints for the Contemporary World. The studio’s history over the past forty years is told by Niels Borch Jensen and art historian Susan Tallman together with artist interviews. The book is published by Hatje Cantz.

From the cover of the book:

The Copenhagen-based print studio of Niels Borch Jensen has been instrumental in the creation of contemporary art for more than forty years. Working with artists as varied as Georg Baselitz, Tacita Dean, Olafur Eliasson, Per Kirkeby, and Julie Mehretu, it has produced works that enhance and disrupt the traditional understanding of printed images, photography and film—works whose existence depends on the printers’ virtuosic technical expertise and on their willingness to try anything.
‘No Plan at All’ offers insight into how artists think, how artworks are made, and why they matter to audiences. It juxtaposes two narrating voices: Niels Borch Jensen gives a personal account of the studio’s history, projects and artists, while art historian Susan Tallman places the story in context— from the American printmaking renaissance in the 1960s through the rise of the Berlin art scene since the 1990s to today’s diverse international collaborations. Interviews with artists further illuminate the often opaque processes, decisions and play that lie behind major works of art.

No Plan at All is co-authored by Niels Borch Jensen and Susan Tallman. Susan Tallman is a writer, critic and art historian living in Massachusetts and Berlin. She has written extensively on contemporary art, the history of prints, and other aspects of art and culture. A regular contributor to New York Review of Books among other publications, she has authored and co-authored many books. In 2011 she co-founded the journal Art in Print, and served as its Editor-in-Chief until its closure in 2019.

The book is kindly supported by The Beckett Foundation, the Bergia Foundation, Bestles Foundation & New Carlsberg Foundation

The publication of the book will be marked on two occasions in November 2021:

BOOK LAUNCH, TALK, AND EXHIBITION | 26 November | BORCH Gallery, Berlin

BOOK LAUNCH, TALK | 30 November | BORCH Editions, Copenhagen

This is a story about art – how it is made and its effects on the world

Susan Tallman