Arnaldo Coen, a key figure in artistic experimentation in Mexico, has died

The National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL) confirmed his passing via a post on social media.

Visual artist Arnaldo Coen—a member of the *Ruptura* (Break) generation, a fellow of the Mexican Academy of Arts (AMA), and recipient of the 2014 National Prize for Sciences and Arts—died this Sunday at the age of 86.

The National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL) confirmed his death through a social media post, in which it expressed its condolences to his family and friends.

Coen’s work is held in the collections of major cultural institutions, including INBAL’s Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MUAC) at UNAM, the Museum of Latin American Art in California, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

The artist was also part of the *Salón Independiente* (Independent Salon) movement, which, between 1968 and 1970, brought together experimental creators who worked outside of established institutions and commercial galleries. The movement was notable for promoting collective artistic production. Coen participated in its third exhibition, *Tercer Salón Independiente*, in collaboration with the artist Sebastián.

He studied in Paris on a French government scholarship and was part of an artistic circle that gathered in Mexico City’s *Zona Rosa*—a group that included painters, gallery owners, actors, and theater and film directors.

As a member of this cultural milieu, he attended a party in the Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood in February 1971, where he was arrested by the police alongside other members of the artistic community.

Among those present were Isela Vega, Arturo Vega Ruiz, and Alejandro Jodorowsky. The gathering was the target of a police raid, and the subsequent press coverage was intended to publicly expose and stigmatize the participants. The incident—referred to in the headlines of the time as a "raid on a hippie orgy"—was documented in the book *Redada en una fiesta hippie* ("Raid at a Hippie Party") by journalist Rafael Cabrera.

That same year, just three months after the *Rock y Ruedas* festival in Avándaro, Coen—along with his brothers Amílcar and Aristides—contributed to the visual and artistic design of *Prometo, espectáculo pop* ("I Promise: A Pop Spectacle"), a "happening" held at the Palace of Fine Arts (*Palacio de Bellas Artes*). The event featured professional wrestlers, fakirs, nude performers, and three musical groups: Dug Dug's, Peace & Love, and Javier Bátiz.

Deemed inappropriate for the venue, the show was interrupted by the police. Both the participants and the audience were forced to vacate the premises. As a result of this intervention, it was impossible to recover the materials used or the photographic records of the event.
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