Pia Fries
1955 Born in Beromünster, Switzerland
Lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany, and Lucerne, Switzerland
1977 – 1980 Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts, specialist class for sculpting with Anton Egloff
1980 – 1986 Academy of the Arts, Düsseldorf, studies painting with Gerhard Richter, master scholar
1984 – 1998 Lecturer in painting at the Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts
1998 – 2000 Lectureship in painting at the Academy of Arts, Düsseldorf
2000 – 2001 Visiting professorship at the Academy of Arts, Karlsruhe / Freiburg i. Br.
2007 – 2009 Visiting professorship at the Berlin University of the Arts
2009 – 2014 Professorship at the Berlin University of the Arts
2014 – 2023 Professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
since 2023 Member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Düsseldorf
Scholarships and Awards
1985 Jury Prize of the six central Swiss cantons
1986 Graduate scholarship from the State of North-Rhine Westphalia
1989 Work grant of the Canton and City of Lucerne, Fine Art
Swiss government art scholarship
1991 Swiss government art scholarship
1992 Nordmann-Prize, Canton of Lucerne
Swiss government art scholarship
1994 Bonn Art Foundation
1996 Art Prize Münsterland
2000 Studio residency in London from the Zug Cultural Foundation, Landis & Gyr
2009 Fred-Thieler Award, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin
2011 Iserlohner art scholarship, Villa Wessel Iserlohn
2014 Art- and culture award of the city of Lucern, Switzerland
2017 Gerhard Altenbourg-Award, Lindenau-Museum Altenburg
2023 Recognition award of the Foundation for Graphic Arts in Switzerland
2025 Granted honorary citizenship of the municipality of Beromünster, Switzerland
Works in Public Collections
Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland
Albertina Modern, Vienna, Austria
Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Gerd Metzdorff Collection, Vancouver, Canada
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, Germany
Josef Albers Museum Quadrat Bottrop, Germany
Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland
Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland
Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany
Kunstmuseum Luzern, Switzerland
Kunstmuseum Mannheim, Germany
Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland
Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Germany
Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg, Germany
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
Ministerium für Bauen und Verkehr des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, France
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Germany
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CA
Nationalbank Essen, Germany
Neues Museum – Staatliches Museum für Kunst und Design Nürnberg, Germany
Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung, Hannover, Germany
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
Sprengel Museum Hannover, Germany
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany
Studio A, Otterndorf, Germany
Universitätsspital Zürich, Switzerland