Not Enough Brain to Survive
Thomas Lerooy · Bronze · 2009 · Listed at Huidevettersstraat 65 / rue des Tanneurs, Brussels (2012)
Photo: as published on Street Art Utopia (8 November 2026); photographer not credited.
Not Enough Brain to Survive is a 2009 bronze by Belgian artist Thomas Lerooy: a small, finely modelled nude body pulled over by an enormous head. It was first shown in his solo show Braindance at Galerie Rodolphe Janssen in Brussels, which lists it at 138 x 120 x 120 cm. Source Source Checked
Seen April 2015: Meer’s report of 3 April 2015 on Lerooy’s show at the Petit Palais in Paris (26 March to 5 July 2015) captions this work. In 2012 the Brussels weekly Bruzz listed it under art in public space at Huidevettersstraat 65 / rue des Tanneurs. We found no newer report of where the bronze stands now. Source Source Reported
💡 5 things to know
- First shown in BraindanceThe gallery lists the work as a 2009 bronze, 138 x 120 x 120 cm, in Lerooy’s exhibition Braindance at Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, from 13 February to 28 March 2009. Lerooy’s own biography lists the show. Source Source Checked
- Born from an endless searchAccording to My Modern Met, the series grew out of Lerooy’s struggle to settle on one concept for the show. “My head literally felt very big and heavy, like I only existed out of a mind and no body,” he said. Source Reported
- One of four bronzesMy Modern Met says the 2009 Braindance series had four bronze sculptures; it names this one alongside Over and Over and Why Worry. Source Reported
- Listed in a Brussels streetIn its 2012 studio visit, Bruzz listed Not Enough Brains to Survive under art in public space at Huidevettersstraat 65 / rue des Tanneurs, Brussels. Source Reported
- At the Petit Palais, then his best-known workMeer reports that Lerooy’s 2015 show Beauty in the Shadow of the Stars at the Petit Palais in Paris placed twenty or so sculptures and drawings among the permanent collections, “with a brief incursion onto the patio garden”, and captions this bronze. In 2018 TL Magazine called it “Lerooy’s best-known sculpture”. Source Source Reported
📍 Where it was
Bruzz listed the bronze in 2012 at Huidevettersstraat 65 / rue des Tanneurs in Brussels. No later source confirms it is still there, and no source gives coordinates, so the button searches the street address. Source Reported
🗓️ Sightings
- 200913 Feb
Braindance opens at Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels
- 20101 Aug
My Modern Met features the Braindance bronzes
- 201230 Nov
Bruzz lists it as art in public space, rue des Tanneurs
- 20153 Apr
Meer captions it in its Petit Palais show report
- 201828 Apr
TL Magazine calls it his best-known sculpture
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
“colossal heads that immobilise the bodies of bronze sculptures”
Bruzz names the Braindance bronzes as an example of captivity in Lerooy’s work.
“In Lerooy’s best-known sculpture, Not Enough Brain to Survive, the perfectly sculpted body falters under the weight of its gigantic head.”
“Here a small body leans to the side, dragged over by the weight of an enormous head.”
✅ The facts
- Title spelling
- Also published as Not Enough Brains to Survive (Bruzz, My Modern Met) Source Source Conflicting
- First shown
- Braindance, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, 13 February to 28 March 2009 Source Source Checked
- Series
- One of four Braindance bronzes, according to My Modern Met’s article text (the page’s summary says six) Source Reported
- Later shown
- Beauty in the Shadow of the Stars, Petit Palais, Paris, 26 March to 5 July 2015 Source Reported
- Where it is now
- No source after 2012 says where the bronze stands Unconfirmed
🔗 Related
- A Slumped Bronze Sculpture and Other Art for Bad Days (8 Photos) — Street Art Utopia
- Thomas Lerooy
- All Artwork Files
All sources & image credits
- rodolphejanssen.com: Thomas Lerooy – Braindance (13 February to 28 March 2009), work list
- thomaslerooy.com: Biography
- My Modern Met: Bronze Sculptures With Enormous Heads Inflated by the “Weight of Thought”, by Jessica Stewart (1 August 2010, updated 2021)
- Bruzz: Studio Visit: Thomas Lerooy, by Kurt Snoekx (30 November 2012)
- Meer: Thomas Lerooy. Beauty in the Shadow of the Stars (3 April 2015)
- TL Magazine: Art Studios Belgium II – Thomas Lerooy (28 April 2018)
- Image: Thomas Lerooy’s Not Enough Brain to Survive, as published on Street Art Utopia (photographer not credited; where and when it was taken is not stated); a 16:9 share version with blurred sides.
Last checked: 8 November 2026. How we verify art