Lubaina Himid’s British pavilion at the Venice Biennale review – alienation in a green and pleasant land

Amid a calming soundtrack of lapping waves and cooing birds, workers in brightly coloured paintings share glances that say: ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ But isn’t there more to not belonging than this show suggests? Home comforts aren’t always all that comfortable. Here at the Venice Biennale, Lubaina Himid paints an awkward, tense, uncomfortable portrait of our damp old home nation. Her installation of monumental paintings and a wall of painted oars at the British pavilion is full of t...

By Eddy Frankel