Growing 1981 Larry Rivers Official

Tamburlini told the New York Times that she felt "very uncomfortable" being filmed and that the entire experience had a profoundly negative impact on her life, contributing to her developing . Her statement to the Times was stark: "It wrecked a lot of my life actually". She later explained that her father "coerced them into doing it" and that she was uncomfortable with the way her body was being documented without her true consent.

: The controversy raised significant questions regarding the limits of artistic expression and the rights of children. Legal and ethical experts debated whether the work constituted a valid artistic document or a form of parental exploitation. growing 1981 larry rivers

The controversy resurfaced in 2010, nearly a decade after Rivers’ death, when New York University (NYU) was in the process of acquiring the extensive Larry Rivers Foundation archive. Tamburlini told the New York Times that she

Today, Growing (1981) is regarded as a deeply problematic chapter in Larry Rivers' career. It continues to prompt critical questions about the limits of artistic freedom when it intersects with the rights and well-being of the individuals depicted. : The controversy raised significant questions regarding the

After the content of the tapes became public, NYU announced it did not want the footage

"Growing" can also be read as a commentary on the expansion and evolution of art itself. By 1981, the art world had grown from the insular New York School of Rivers' youth into a massive, global, commercial industry. The artwork reflects this expansion by absorbing commercial design elements, photography references, and graffiti-adjacent marks, showing an artist expanding his vocabulary to match a rapidly changing culture. Provenance, Exhibition History, and the Art Market

: The footage shows the girls either naked or topless as Rivers asks them questions about their changing bodies and budding sexuality.