Basel’s Most Surprising Artwork Has Wheels
BMW teams up with artist Alvaro Barrington to turn its hydrogen fleet into mobile artworks for Art Basel 2025.
BMW’s latest artistic statement moves not through galleries but across the streets of Basel.
To mark 50 years of its iconic Art Car programme, the brand has unveiled a bold new collaboration with British-Caribbean artist Alvaro Barrington, reimagining its BMW iX5 Hydrogen fleet as a mobile work of art during Art Basel, which continues through 22 June.
Each vehicle becomes a canvas: engineered to lead the future of mobility, and wrapped in Barrington’s expressive, collage-inspired aesthetic.
Curated in partnership with Hans Ulrich Obrist, celebrated curator and former BMW Art Car juror, the project, titled Simply, 2025, continues the marque’s tradition of positioning mobility at the intersection of technology, emotion and artistic innovation.
The vehicles, operating as the official VIP fleet at Art Basel, carry a vision of what the future of movement might feel like.
Wrapped in Barrington’s vibrant, collage-inspired aesthetic, the fleet draws on influences ranging from David Hockney and Richard Hamilton to Henri Matisse and Tina Turner.
These references pulse through the design in layered colours and symbolic forms, offering a meditation on reinvention, identity and the energy of motion.
“To be part of the global conversation around sustainability and the future of transport through this collaboration with BMW is truly meaningful,” Barrington reflects.
Developed in close conversation with BMW’s hydrogen engineers, Barrington’s concept bridges the precision of fuel-cell technology with the sensibility of human experience.
The result is a joyful fusion of art and innovation, rooted in transformation, nature, and the possibilities of emotional design.
This is the second year the BMW iX5 Hydrogen fleet has appeared at Art Basel, following its 2024 debut wrapped in the vision of artist Es Devlin.
In 2025, the initiative expands its reach, serving not only as functional transport but as a bold artistic statement visible throughout the city.
“The collaboration with Alvaro Barrington adds a new layer of storytelling to our hydrogen technology,” says Michael Rath, Head of Hydrogen Vehicles at BMW Group.
Following the successful global trial of its pilot fleet, BMW is preparing for the series production of its first hydrogen-powered model in 2028.
The fuel-cell drivetrain will be integrated into an existing model line, expanding BMW’s sustainable offering alongside its electric, hybrid and combustion-powered vehicles.
Simply, 2025 forms part of the ongoing BMW Art Car World Tour.
Earlier this year, German artist Gregor Hildebrandt brought his visual language to a fleet of fully electric BMW i5 and i7 vehicles at Stockholm’s Market Art Fair. Further artist collaborations are set to follow as the tour continues globally.
In Basel, Barrington’s fleet offers perspective. A reminder that progress is not only measured in powertrains and performance, but in the emotions we carry with us as we move forward.
