Cameroonian artist, Hako Hankson, is presenting a new body of work at Windsor Gallery in Lagos, using painting and plexiglass to examine the boundaries between appearance and reality, and the role of perception in shaping human experience.

Titled Hako’s Allegory, the show begins October 31, 2026 at the gallery’s grounds in Victoria Island, following a six-week residency in which Hankson engaged the Lagos art scene and explored its cultural landscape. The programme is part of Windsor’s efforts to promote artistic exchange across Africa and connect artists with new audiences and cultural environments.

Drawing on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, the works combine reflections, transparency and imagery rooted in African cultural and spiritual traditions to question what viewers see and what they understand.

Born Gaston Hako in 1968 in Bafang, Cameroon, Hankson grew up surrounded by the traditions, rituals and spiritual practices of West Cameroon. His father, a sculptor and musician associated with the royal palace, exposed him to masks, statuettes, totems and ceremonial objects that have continued to influence his artistic practice.

Although he trained as a motor mechanic, Hankson pursued art independently, developing a multidisciplinary practice spanning painting, drawing, sculpture and mixed media. His works combine human and animal figures, masks, symbols and expressive gestures to explore spirituality, identity, memory, migration and contemporary African life.

Speaking with The Guardian ahead of the exhibition, Hankson said his father played a significant role in shaping his artistic journey, particularly through his understanding of masks and their cultural significance.

He described African culture as distinctive in its ability to communicate spirituality, adding that his early exposure to traditional objects helped him develop a visual language rooted in cultural heritage.

According to him, the exhibition’s use of plexiglass offers an opportunity to experiment with how artworks are perceived, with the material introducing reflections and transparency that make the final image difficult to predict fully during the creative process.

The concept behind Hako’s Allegory draws from Plato’s account of prisoners confined to a cave who mistake shadows projected on a wall for reality because they have never experienced the world beyond their immediate surroundings. When one prisoner escapes, the encounter with a wider reality challenges everything previously understood.

Hankson translates this philosophical premise into works that exist between image and reflection, visibility and obscurity, and surface and depth. Plexiglass allows viewers to see an image while also revealing the space behind it, with light and reflections changing according to their positions.

The works therefore challenge the assumption that what is visible necessarily represents the whole truth. Rather than presenting a fixed interpretation, they invite viewers to reconsider how perspective, experience and personal limitations shape their understanding of the world.

Through this approach, the audience becomes part of the viewing experience, moving around the works, looking through the material and encountering reflections of themselves alongside the images.

Hankson said this visit to Nigeria is his first, despite having exhibited in many countries all over the world. He explained that discussions over the possibility of exhibiting in Nigeria, with the gallery’s owner, Richard Vedelago, began on social media about three years ago, but his busy schedule delayed the visit until now.

The residency also provided an opportunity to meet Nigerian artists and learn more about the country’s art scene. Hankson described the level of artistic activity in Lagos as inspiring and expressed interest in future collaborations with Nigerian practitioners.

He said he was particularly impressed by artists who approach their work as a long-term professional commitment, planning to sustain and develop their practices over decades rather than treating art merely as a hobby.

The artist’s international exhibition history includes presentations with OH Gallery in Dakar, Primo Marella Gallery in Italy and Switzerland, and L’Atelier 21 in Casablanca. In 2024, he represented Cameroon at the 60th Venice Biennale.

His works are held in collections including Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in France, the Musée d’Art Contemporain Africain Al Maaden (MACAAL) in Morocco, Fondation H in Madagascar, Fondation Donwahi in Côte d’Ivoire, the Gervanne and Matthias Leridon Collection in France, and the Benetton Collection in Italy.

In 2013, Hankson founded the In and Off Art Center in Douala, Cameroon, to support artistic exchange and emerging artists. His practice continues to bring traditional cultural references into conversation with contemporary experiences.

Hankson’s residency and exhibition form part of that effort to strengthen connections between African artists, institutions and audiences across national borders.