Old Girl in a Tutu: Susan Rennie Disrupts Art History

2025, 8 minutes

Link to watch trailer

Link to film’s website

Feminist scholar, Susan Rennie, seizes her iPhone and sneaks her queer, octogenarian body into master works of art, disrupting the narrative of the male gaze.

This 8-minute film focuses on a gallery showcase of Susan Rennie’s delightful art with unfiltered commentary from the artist, as well as words from exhibition curator Kirsten Grimstad.*

When Rennie retired from academia, she returned to her first love—photography. With humor and wit, Rennie’s photographic interventions offer a feminist critique of the conventional canon of art history, and an unabashed embrace of her elder, queer identity. The results are juicy, eye-opening, and often hilarious.

Writer/Director/Producer/Editor Cheri Gaulke has created an entertaining journey into the mind of an elder, queer artist through a whirlwind of images and ideas.

Fun fact: Susan’s art is created entirely using her iPhone and iPad. Gaulke also used an iPhone to film the interviews, art opening, and behind-the-scenes.

*Grimstad and Rennie were co-editors of the seminal The New Woman’s Survival Catalog published in 1973.

Credits:

Written, directed, produced and edited by Cheri Gaulke

Co-written by Sue Maberry

Featuring the art of Susan Rennie

Music by Ray Lynch and Shocking Blue