: Emma Tamburlini publicly condemned the film, describing the experience as traumatic and labeling the footage as "child pornography". She attributed her subsequent struggle with anorexia to the intrusive filming.
Context and Artistic Trajectory By 1981 Rivers had long been a major figure in American art. He emerged amid mid-century shifts that rejected a single authoritative aesthetic, instead favoring bricolage and quotation. Rivers’s visual work inhabited an uneasy border between figurative representation and appropriation, often embedding personal biography and cultural critique. Documentary Growing functions as an extension of these tendencies: the film does not merely record growth as an objective process but treats growth as a layered, mediated narrative, shaped by memory, performance, and artifice.
Art vs. The Destruction of Innocence | - The Art | Crime Archive
Because of its extremely sensitive content and the ongoing legal/ethical disputes between the Larry Rivers Foundation and his daughters, Growing is .
At the heart of Growing is the tension between Larry Rivers the famous artist and Larry Rivers the father. The film does not shy away from the complexities of his parenting style. It explores how his bohemian lifestyle and intense focus on his work impacted his children. The documentary captures raw, unvarnished conversations that reveal the vulnerabilities, resentments, and deep bonds within the Rivers family. Blurring the Lines of Reality documentary growing 1981 larry rivers download updated
famously refused to accept the "Growing" tapes as part of a purchase of Rivers's archives from the Larry Rivers Foundation because of the problematic nature of the footage.
Let's open the Vanity Fair article more fully to get details... for details on the film's editing.'s see around that line. Vanity Fair article confirms the film was edited in the early 1980s, which aligns with the user's "1981" keyword. It also states that the film was never publicly exhibited and is restricted.
Originally released in 1981, this rare documentary captures a pivotal moment in the life of American pop art pioneer Larry Rivers, offering a candid look at his creative process and personal philosophy.
: The legal rights to the film and its archival materials are strictly managed by the Larry Rivers Foundation and the permanent collections of the institutions that originally commissioned or archived his multimedia works. : Emma Tamburlini publicly condemned the film, describing
The story of "Growing" remains unresolved. It is a dark corner in the history of American art, a testament to how the pursuit of transgressive expression can collide violently with the fundamental responsibility to protect and respect one's children. While Larry Rivers is remembered as a foundational artist whose work influenced Andy Warhol and generations to come, the existence of "Growing" ensures his legacy will always be contested.
📍 For insight into Larry Rivers' career without the ethical controversies of Growing , you can view more standard retrospectives like Larry Rivers: An American Master on ART/new york. If you're researching this for a specific project: Do you need legal context regarding artist archives? Are you searching for other 1980s art documentaries ?
Rivers discusses his complex relationship with both the New York School of painting and the emerging Pop Art scene. He famously sought to make art that was "about something" while retaining the energy of abstract painting.
The 1980s marked a reflective period for the first generation of Pop and contemporary American artists. Growing (1981) captures this cultural shift. Key Themes of the Film He emerged amid mid-century shifts that rejected a
The camera captured the intense environment of his studio, surrounded by assistants, friends, and the raw materials of his work.
When looking for specific historical art films, always cross-reference available titles with WorldCat to locate libraries holding physical or digital copies.
Before Andy Warhol was printing soup cans, Rivers was gluing cigarette packs to canvases. In the 1950s, he was the bridge between Abstract Expressionism (de Kooning was a mentor) and the Pop Art explosion. He was also a published poet, a world-class jazz saxophonist, and a notoriously difficult personality.