Hélio Melo (Boca do Acre, AM, 1926 – Goiânia, GO, 2001) was born in the interior of the state of Amazonas and, from his adolescence, worked as a rubber tapper in Senápolis, Acre. When, at the age of 33, he arrived with his family in the capital, Rio Branco, he kept the world of the rubber plantation at the center of his imagination and his work as a painter, driven by the move to the city. 

Most of his works, set in forests, are inhabited by animals and humans, mostly rubber tappers engaged in their daily tasks. The forest is also treated as a subject, a living organism, represented at different moments, where we see nuances of colors and lights. But behind these picturesque images lies the artist's desire to express his dissatisfaction with the transformation of the rubber plantations and the violent process of turning forests into pastures.

Fantastic beings, some present in the collective imagination of the rubber plantations and others imagined by the artist, populate his paintings and contribute to their mythical character. Social transformations that changed the lives of the rubber tappers are addressed with irony by the artist, both in the visual construction and in some titles. 

Em 2006, a obra de Hélio Melo ganhou uma sala especial na 27ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo. Recentemente, integrou a Bienal das Amazônias, em Belém (2023) e a coletiva Histórias Brasileiras, no MASP (2022), além da individual Hélio Melo, apresentada na Almeida & Dale, em 2023. Consolidou-se como o artista mais destacado do Acre, e em sua homenagem o governo do Acre criou o Teatro Hélio Melo. Sua obra integra os acervos do Centre Georges Pompidou, em Paris; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo; MASP; Museu de Arte do Rio – MAR; Museu Acreano de Belas Artes, entre outros.