New York Magazine's Editor-in-Chief Has a Secret Second Life

Running New York Magazine sounds like a full-time gig. But for David Haskell, the Editor-in-Chief, it’s apparently only a part-time obsession. Twice a week, he swaps headlines for kiln time, quietly crafting a second life as a sculptor in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

For 12 years, Haskell has been getting his hands dirty, transforming from media titan to master of the malleable. Now, his ceramic creations, bronzes, and glassworks are stepping out of the shadows for his first solo exhibition, "Boom Beach," at Donzella Ltd. in New York. Because apparently, one demanding career just isn't quite enough.

The Editor Who Molds Worlds

Haskell first got into clay as a teenager, returning to it in 2013. What started as a practical pursuit — making planters for his desert plants — slowly morphed into something far more abstract. Now, Tuesdays and Saturdays are sacred studio days. His 68 pieces for "Boom Beach" often start on the wheel, then get the full treatment: punctured, stretched, stacked, and folded into shapes that look like time and gravity itself had a hand in them.

He sees a surprising connection between editing a sprawling article and coaxing form from clay. Both, he says, are about rhythm and structure. Listening for how sections echo, how ideas return, how careful adjustments create complex arrangements. Which, if you think about it, is both impressive and slightly terrifying. Imagine applying that level of structural rigor to a lump of mud.

Unlike many artists, Haskell isn't sweating gallery sales. His day job provides a rather nice cushion, freeing him to chase ideas for months without the pressure of a commission. This allows for a kind of creative purity, a luxury many full-time artists can only dream of. He looks to legends like Isamu Noguchi, Barbara Hepworth, and Henry Moore for inspiration, particularly Noguchi’s knack for blurring the lines between functional and purely artistic objects.

The exhibition’s title, "Boom Beach," is a nod to a rocky stretch of coastline in Maine that Haskell has frequented for years. The sea-battered rocks there clearly left an impression, inspiring the organic, weathered feel of his sculptures.

Haskell is aware that a public figure becoming an artist can raise an eyebrow or two. But he's remarkably unbothered by potential skepticism. For him, this isn't a sudden whim; it's a private practice that's simply gone public after a dozen years of showing up, getting to work, and refining his craft. This show is less a debut and more a quiet testament to long-term dedication.

"Boom Beach" is on view through June 30. Go see what happens when a brilliant mind decides to play in the mud.