Growing 1981 Larry Rivers !!hot!! Jun 2026

While Rivers viewed the project as a provocative, boundary-pushing continuation of the raw figurative realism that defined his career, his daughters experienced the process as deeply coercive. Emma Tamburlini later stated that she resisted the filming but was shamed by her father, who labeled her "uptight" and a "bad daughter" for refusing to cooperate. The psychological toll on the subjects was severe:

By 1981, Rivers was deep into his "collaborations" with poetry and medical imagery. Growing sits at the intersection of these two fascinations: the organic process of flora and the rigid structure of anatomical drawing. growing 1981 larry rivers

The work reflects Rivers’ ongoing fascination with memory, sexuality, and the passage of time. By the early ‘80s, he was incorporating xerox transfers, spray paint, and even 3D elements into his canvases — breaking down the boundary between "fine art" and "just stuff." While Rivers viewed the project as a provocative,

In Rivers’ own writings, he frequently compared the act of painting to gardening—both require patience, a tolerance for mess, and an acceptance of forces beyond one’s control. Growing can be interpreted as a self-portrait of Rivers’ creative process in 1981. The vertical forms, which resemble both plant life and the erect brushstrokes of Franz Kline, represent ideas “sprouting” from the subconscious (the dark ground). The disembodied hand, a recurring motif in Rivers’ work from the 1960s onward, signifies the artist’s intervention without glorifying the artist’s ego. It is not a heroic hand but a tentative, searching one. Growing sits at the intersection of these two

: Rivers filmed his daughters at six-month intervals, often focusing on their developing bodies and asking them intimate, probing questions about puberty and sexuality. Artistic and Ethical Controversy