Daniel Rich creates architectural paintings through hand-cut stencils and masking techniques, using source material found in newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet. Often these buildings are spaces such as hospitals, hotels, schools, military installations (and similar institutions) that have been recently attacked or destroyed. Through Rich’s graphic style of painting, he is able to strip these buildings of any specific pretense and simply represent the symbolic nature of particular situations he has identified and preserved. His newest works, Ramallah, West Bank and Gaza, 2005, each illustrate architecture that has recently represented a dramatic dualism: a victory for some and a simultaneous loss for others. For example, in "Ramallah, West Bank", Rich has appropriated an image from the New York Times that depicts a celebration of Hamas’ victory in the recent Palestinian elections, taking place outside a building seemingly near collapse. Similarly, "Gaza, 2005" is a painting presenting a building in an abandoned, nonspecific neighborhood that has been repeatedly riddled with bullets and shells. Each of these images stoically preserves a moment in history that challenges the audience’s notions of triumph and failure, especially during this moment of international conflict and war.