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. 

In 2006, Hélio Melo's work was featured in a special room at the 27th São Paulo International Biennial. More recently, he participated in the Bienal das Amazônias in Belém (2023) and the group exhibition Histórias Brasileiras at the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) in 2022, as well as a solo exhibition at Almeida & Dale in 2023. He established himself as the most prominent artist from Acre, and in his honor, the government of Acre created the Hélio Melo Theater. His work is part of the collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, MASP, Museum of Art of Rio (MAR), Acrean Museum of Fine Arts, among others.