In relation to art, marxism is
a.
is the influence the gender of both the artist and the viewer has in art.
b.
the method that interprets artworks in the light of their economic and social contexts.
c.
the meaning of symbols and images in an artwork.
d.
the use of the elements of art present in a piece of art.
which is the best answer to pick

b.

the method that interprets artworks in the light of their economic and social contexts.

b. the method that interprets artworks in the light of their economic and social contexts.

Explanation:

According to Karl Marx, art is part of the superstructure and is inescapably determined by the mode of production and the economic system. Capitalism produces commodities, each of which is a fetish, or an object of abstract value. Fetishism is the projection of human nature and human desires into an external object. If we accept the proposition that art is transformed into a commodity (and art must be a commodity in a capitalist society), then certain consequences follow from this statement. All artists are cultural producers who work in a capitalist system for the benefit of the market. Every kind of art made within this system is a commodity to be bought and sold as an object of desire, objects of desire upon which human feelings are projected. The work of art in a capitalist society must be a consumable object and, as such, it must also be an object of desire, a fetish.

The ideology of the market, the place where goods are bought and sold, is a living experience in every artist's conscience. The artist's mind is imputed with history and cannot escape its own time. Marxism opposed the thesis of a transcendent avant-garde that projects itself into the future and stands out from society. From a Marxist point of view, art always refers to society and the artist is always part of culture, art is never independent or absolute.