Teo Freytes's Estampa Niuyorquina Tells of Death and Dismemberment in the Big Apple

Decapitation in Teo Freytes's Estampa Niuyorquina

​Taking public transit is traumatizing enough without having to watch a man dismembered on the tracks. But in Puerto Rican artist Teo Freytes's comic book Estampa Niuyorquina (Image of New York), a blue-collar laborer finishes work for the day, only to have his subway ride interrupted by a suicidal jumper. "All of a sudden, he hears a thump and screaming," Freytes explains. "He looks around, and he sees the place scattered with sausages and ketchup. Then he notices something on the floor that looks like a pumpkin, but he realizes it's a man's head." The artist continues, "He gets a taxi, thinking about how New York has this horrible smell of work, blood, and guts. And he leaves crying."

See the jump for excerpts from the Estampa Niuyorquina, a link to an online ebook, and exhibition details.

As part of the split show "A Fragmented Anomaly," Freytes has reprinted pages from his book and produced a $200 limited-edition version, packaged with three signed miniposters. You can also check out Estampa Niuyorquina online.

The front and back covers of Estampa Niuyorquina.

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The subway mice of pages 2 and 3.

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"In the meantime, I was preoccupied by the mice playing in the path of the train, and how they wiggled their little ears and hid between the tracks."

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"His eyes were half-open looking toward eternity."

​"A Fragmented Anomaly." Edge Zones, 180 NE 39th St., Miami. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Call 305-303-8852 or visit edgezones.org.