Menu
Menu
The film "Growing" was a deeply personal and lengthy project for Rivers. Over a period of five to six years in the 1970s, he filmed his daughters, Emma and Gwynne, twice a year, often asking them questions about their changing bodies and sexuality. The footage included scenes where the girls were topless or completely nude. In 1981, after accumulating this significant archive, Rivers edited the raw footage into a 45-minute film he titled "Growing". He intended to use the film as part of a larger art exhibition, framing it as a serious artistic study of adolescence.
For art historians and critics, presents a difficult problem: how to evaluate an artist's work when that work caused real, documented harm to vulnerable people. For the general public, the film's very existence raises unsettling questions about what we are willing to accept in the name of art. And for Emma and Gwynne Rivers, "Growing" is not a masterpiece to be preserved—it is a violation to be erased.
The intersection of 1980s New York City counterculture, modern art, and raw biographical filmmaking remains one of the most fertile eras in American cultural history. At the absolute center of this vortex stood Larry Rivers—the painter, sculptor, saxophonist, and provocateur often cited as the "Godfather of Pop Art." While art history books meticulously document his paintings like Washington Crossing the Delaware or his collaborations with Frank O'Hara, his experimental film work remains elusive. Among his rarest media footprints is the 1981 video documentary .
"Growing" (1981) is a highly controversial film by Larry Rivers documenting his adolescent daughters, which has been widely suppressed following legal challenges and accusations of non-consensual voyeurism from his daughter, Emma Rivers. The film is not available through legitimate channels, and online links promising a download are often scams. Read a detailed account of the controversy in Vanity Fair . AI responses may include mistakes. Learn more Documentary Growing 1981 Larry Rivers Download - Facebook --- Documentary Growing 1981 Larry Rivers LINK Download
"Growing" was not a traditional documentary in the sense of a biography or a social expose. It was a visual journal of adolescence, or as critics would later describe it, a violation.
If you want to know more about this film, let me know if you would like me to: Find that currently stream his video art Share a list of books about Larry Rivers' filmmaking career Explain his Pop Art style in simple terms Tell me which topic you want to explore next! Share public link
: The girls' mother, Clarice Rivers, strongly objected to the public display of the film. As a result, Rivers withdrew the project from his scheduled exhibition and placed the edited tape and its raw footage into his private archives. The Boundary Between Art and Exploitation The film "Growing" was a deeply personal and
Rivers' artistic style was defined by his role as a bridge between the angst-ridden brushstrokes of Abstract Expressionism and the cool, detached imagery of Pop Art. He shocked the art world by reintroducing figurative and historical subjects into contemporary painting, most famously with his 1953 masterpiece "Washington Crossing the Delaware". Throughout his life, he was known for his "outspokenness, irreverence, wit, and controversial character". His life was a whirlwind of creativity, drug use, and bisexuality, including a well-known friendship with the jazz legends Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. This unapologetic, boundary-pushing persona is the crucial context for the creation of "Growing."
Growing (1981) is a documentary focused on artist Larry Rivers (1923–2002), an influential figure in postwar American art known for bridging Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art with figurative painting, sculpture, and performance. The film follows Rivers during a later phase of his career, capturing his studio practice, personal reflections, interactions with collaborators, and the cultural context of his work.
To understand Growing , one must understand the restless energy of its creator. Born Yitzhoch Loiza Grossberg in the Bronx, Rivers defied categorization. In 1981, after accumulating this significant archive, Rivers
Rivers edited this footage into a 45-minute film in 1981, intended for public exhibition. The Fallout:
The documentary remains one of the most controversial works in Rivers' career due to its intrusive nature . Rivers filmed his daughters in various states of undress—often topless or naked—while asking them probing questions about their developing bodies and sexuality .