the vacuum cleaner

‘the vacuum cleaner’ is the name of UK based artist James Leadbitter, who makes candid, provocative and playful art which draws on his own experience of mental health disability. He works with groups including young people, health professionals and vulnerable adults to challenge how mental health is understood, treated and experienced. With roots in activism and radical art, the vacuum cleaner has created one-man interventions and large-scale actions as well as performance, installation and film. Previously he has been commissioned by Wellcome Collection and Festspiele Zurich, and was one Tate’s Moderns artist in residence 2016/17. Recent commissions include Chisenhale, which will be shown in 2022.

Articles by the vacuum cleaner