In 1981, the American artist Larry Rivers completed a 45-minute documentary film titled "Growing." While Rivers was a celebrated "Godfather of Pop Art" known for his rebellious and innovative style, this specific project remains one of the most controversial and unsettling chapters of his career. The Project’s Origin
The Interrupted Debut: Rivers originally intended to debut the 45-minute cut as part of a 1981 exhibition. However, the girls' mother, Clarice Rivers, intervened and successfully prevented the public screening. Critical and Family Perspectives
Conclusion
The Anthropomorphic Stem: Rivers paints the plant not as a pretty still life, but as a straining muscle. The stem bulges like a bicep flexing. The veins of the leaves are drawn with the same urgency as the capillaries in a medical textbook. Rivers is asking: Is it growing, or is it struggling?
Artistic vs. Personal Boundaries: The work is often cited as an example of Rivers' tendency to blur the lines between his personal life and his art, often at the expense of those closest to him. growing 1981 larry rivers
In 1981, Rivers was 58 years old and already an established figure in the art world. During this period, he continued to experiment with new techniques and themes, further solidifying his reputation as a versatile and innovative artist.
Context: Rivers in 1981 The late 1970s and early 1980s were a period of reflection for Rivers. Having achieved fame in the 1950s with works like Washington Crossing the Delaware, he spent much of the 1970s on large-scale historical pastiches and multimedia experiments. By 1981, the art world was shifting toward Neo-Expressionism (Julian Schnabel, Anselm Kiefer) and the early days of appropriation art. Rivers, then 58, did not follow these trends. Instead, Growing looks inward. The work was created at his studio in Southampton, New York, and reflects a pastoral, almost meditative quality—a departure from the frenetic energy of his earlier jazz-influenced pieces. In 1981, the American artist Larry Rivers completed
The Documentation Obsession: The work reflects a lifelong preoccupation with recording every detail of life, treating personal and family history as raw material for public art. The Critical and Ethical Debate
The work titled Growing" (1981) is a highly controversial documentary series created by American artist Larry Rivers Rivers is asking: Is it growing, or is it struggling