Vernita Nemec, also known by the performance name Vernita N'Cognita, is a visual and performance artist, curator, and arts activist based in New York City. Nemec has been active in the art world since the late 1960’s when she co-curated X-12, the first feminist art show of the period, and worked with such political art organizations as Artworkers Coalition (AWC), Women Artists in Revolution (WAR), and Artists Meeting for Cultural Change. In the 90’s, Nemec served as Director of Artists Talk On Art, interviewing many art world luminaries, and as independent curator at the Henry Street Settlement for the Arts. For the past decade, Nemec has been organizing and independently curating exhibitions of art made from recycled materials called “Art from Detritus.” She is currently director of Viridian Artists, a contemporary art gallery in New York City's Chelsea.