Korean artist donates sculpture to Ecuador

By Rachel Lee

Korean artist Yoo Young-ho has donated two sets of “The Greeting Man” and “The Mirror Man” in Ecuador’s Quito and Cayambe on May 29.

According to the Embassy of Ecuador, a ceremony took place to welcome the 6-meter-tall, sky-blue sculptures at the entrance of the International Airport Antonio Jose de Sucre. Quito Mayor Mauricio Rodas, Ambassador of Korea to Ecuador Lee Eun-chul and Yoo were present.

“’The Quito World Mirror-Mirror Man’ is a piece of art valued in $500,000 and it consists of two statues of 6 meters high which face each other through a frame which represents a mirror,” Ana Diaz, third Secretary at the embassy, said.

It also “symbolizes friendship between the North and the South Hemisphere, the exchange between two civilizations and the encounter of Seoul and Quito,” she added.

“These pieces of art were installed where the Equator Line divides the Earth into Northen and Southern Hemispheres, actually one greetingman is on the North and the other one in the South part, facing one another,” the third secretary said.

Yoo’s “The Greeting Man” have been place in several areas in Korea, including Yanggu in Gangwon Province and Seogwipo in Jeju Island.

The artist has also donated his work to Uruguay and Panama, the embassy said.