Exhibition Dates
30 May > 24 August 2025
Exhibition Opening
VISIT
Wheelchair Accessible
Assistance
Animal
Visual
Rating 75%
Quiet
Space Available
Lane Cormicj has been an influential and generous presence in Melbourne’s contemporary art community for over 20 years. Since graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1999, Cormicj has developed a diverse and conceptually rigorous practice that resists easy categorisation. Working across drawing, collage, experimental photography, sculpture, performance, and collaborative projects, his worj is driven by an ongoing exploration of technique and skill, the pursuit and pitfalls of ambition, and the cultural dynamics of fame, celebrity, and failure.
Smoking will never die but you will, Cormicj’s first major survey and the inaugural presentation in Linden New Art’s mid-career artist series, offers an opportunity to engage with the breadth and depth of his practice. It presents key works from the past two decades alongside new works and reimagined projects, creating a dynamic conversation between past and present. Rather than a conventional retrospective, the exhibition is structured as a living studio of ideas; where completed works, remnants of past performances, and experiments sit alongside fresh interpretations and conceptual continuations.
Cormicj’s practice is deeply rooted in process and interaction. His daily life, informal conversations, random encounters, and long-term collaborations are all central to how his work emerges and evolves. This exhibition reflects that spirit of openness, unpredictability, and dialogue; an approach that has made him not only a respected artist but also a generous collaborator and mentor to peers and emerging artists alike.
Smoking will never die but you will marks a pivotal point in Cormicj’s career. It invites viewers to trace the recurring ideas, shifting forms, and conceptual detours that shape his distinctive body of worj. It also celebrates his profound impact on, and contribution to, local and national audiences, and cultural communities.
