South Koean artist Dongwook Lee (a.k.a. Claus Lucas) was born in Daejeon in 1973 and now lives and creates in Seoul. His work is split between fine arts and commercial commissions, without ever compromising his idiosyncratic eye on the human condition. Influenced by his artist sister, his photographs sometimes resemble paintings. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and since 2008 he has been a Photography Lecturer at Woosong College, in his hometown of Daejeon. In his mid thirties he started using Barbie dolls in his art and he frequently displays the human form in a twisted but disarming way. In his own words, “my works explicitly show a long history of internal fight, a journey to find raisons d’être and meanings for humans.” 

He has had many solo exhibitions in Korea and has participated in group exhibitions that have introduced his work to the rest of the world. His awards include the 2007 Hewlett-Packard Turn-on Digital Award Grand Prize and Third Place Winner at the 2014 IPA (International Photography Awards), USA, in the Category of Self Published books for his 2012 publication “Sense of Guilt”.

Text by Eleni Papaioannou