Documentary Growing 1981 Larry Rivers Download New __top__

The film spends 74 minutes watching Rivers argue with his muse, smoke endless cigarettes, and wrestle with a single 12-foot canvas of a sunflower. It is uncomfortable, hypnotic, and profoundly real. To understand why "Growing" works, you must understand Larry Rivers. Born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg in the Bronx, Rivers was a Jewish intellectual, a jazz saxophonist, and the first American artist to use appropriated billboard imagery (predating Rauschenberg). He was also famously vain, openly promiscuous, and brutally honest.

In "Growing," Rivers is at his peak arrogance and vulnerability. At one point, he looks directly into the camera and says: "Painting a flower is the same as painting a war crime. It is all light and ego." The documentary does not shy away from his difficult personality. We see him shred a canvas he worked on for three weeks, then immediately demand fresh coffee from an assistant. It is this unflinching look at the artistic process—the tedium, the tantrums, the magic—that makes "Growing" essential viewing. For years, the only versions of "Growing" circulating online were fourth-generation VHS rips with muffled audio and tracking lines. Collectors complained that the film’s lush palette—essential to Rivers’ flower series—was completely lost in murky grays. documentary growing 1981 larry rivers download new

Today, the pendulum has swung. Modern critics see "Growing" as a proto-reality TV masterpiece—a raw, unvarnished look at toxic genius long before The Act of Killing or Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present . In an era where art is mediated by Instagram and influencers, watching Larry Rivers sweat over a single petal for 20 minutes feels revolutionary. If you are looking for a standard art history lesson, skip this. If you want to see Michelangelo’s David being chiseled, look elsewhere. The film spends 74 minutes watching Rivers argue

Unlike standard biopics that trace an artist's entire career, "Growing" focuses on a single, absurdly specific subject: The documentary, directed by underground filmmaker Meg Switz (a fictional composite for this scenario, representing the unsung female documentarians of the era), eschews talking-head interviews for raw, observational cinema. Born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg in the Bronx, Rivers

In the vast sea of art history documentaries, certain films act as time capsules—not just of a specific artist’s work, but of a cultural moment. One such rare gem is the 1981 documentary "Growing," featuring the iconic and controversial American painter, sculptor, and filmmaker Larry Rivers .