Pia Fries studied at the Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts, Switzerland, and at the Academy of the Arts, Düsseldorf, Germany, where she studied under Gerhard Richter. From 2014 to 2023, Fries held a professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.

Over the course of her nearly-four decade career, Fries has exhibited internationally at numerous institutions and galleries. In 1999, her work was included in the 48th Venice Biennale, dAPERTutto, curated by Harald Szeemann. Notable solo exhibitions of her work have been held at Kunsthaus Baselland, Switzerland; Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Germany; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France; Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Germany; Josef Albers Museum Quadrat Bottrop, Germany; Kunstmuseum Luzern, Switzerland, and elsewhere.

Fries’ work is held in the collections of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY; Denver Art Museum, CO; Detroit Institute of Arts, MI; Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany; Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland; Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Germany; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France; Neues Museum Nürnberg, Germany; Sprengel Museum, Hanover, Germany; and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany, among others.

She is the recipient of many awards and accolades including the Stiftung für die Graphische Kunst in der Schweiz Prize, Zürich, Switzerland; Gerhard Altenburg Award, Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg, Germany; Art and Culture Award of the City of Lucerne, Switzerland; Fred-Thieler Prize, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany; and the Nordmann Prize, Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland.